Invasion Redone
by Chloe19Grace13Maeve
Summary: This story takes place in the beginning of the Invasion season but with four new characters. How would the team be if these girls were placed? Not only changing the lives within the team, but outside as well. R&R please. I co-writ this story with my best friend, Emily Alderman. ImpulseXOC, BlueBeetleXOC and GarfieldXOC I changed the rating.
1. Happy New Year

Chapter One

_**January 2:**_

Another mission is a success as Miss. Martian, Superboy, Robin, Beast Boy and Blue Beetle make their way back to the Cave. Just as the Bio-ship was approaching the Headquarters of the team, scanners picked up something…strange just outside in the vague trees.

"Scanners are picking something up outside." Superboy reported.

"Should we stop and help?" Blue asked.

"Bio-ship's prepping for landing. Nightwing's already been notified." M'Gann replied.

After landing, the sub-team existed the ship and into the trees. There was nothing for a while as the team walked carefully through the thick trees. As they had gotten to almost the heart of the treed area, Beast Boy twitched as something grabbed his ankle.

"Ah! Uh…Sis...!"

The rest ran over, Beast Boy's ankle hidden in a bush.

"Beast Boy, what's wrong?" M'Gann asked.

"Something's got my ankle. It's in the bush."

Robin walked over, removing some shrub, and jumping back slightly.

"It's—It's a person. A…girl."

The girl's black hair had been matted, and her blue shirt had been ripped on the sides with her brown jeans. Superboy checked for a pulse.

"She's out cold." Superboy added.

"Miss. Martian to the Cave."

"_What's wrong, M'Gann/ Did you find out what the scanners picked up?_"

"Yes. We found a girl, she's out cold."

"Miss. M…" Beetle called.

M'Gann turned around, seeing two more girls. One had short brown hair, and was wearing a ripped grey tank top with blue jeans and flip-flops. The other girl had long hazel hair, and was wearing a white dress with blue leggings and black combat boots.

"Make that three girls."

"_Bring them back to the Cave. Nightwing out._"

After loading the three girls onto the Bio-ship, a small wolf cub raced on and jumped up on one of the girls. Its fur was grey, the paws were blackened with dirt, and its face was ruffled around gold eyes.

"Okay…Why is there a wolf cub here?" Beast Boy questioned.

Superboy walked over, going to gently pick up the cub, but the cub snapped at his fingers before growling lowly.

"It's okay…I'm not gonna hurt you." Superboy said as gently as he could.

After having to sniff Superboy's hand, the cub calmed and whimpered slightly. Afterward, the five returned to the Cave, where they brought the girls to sick bay. Black Canary and Wonder woman were waiting for the girls to arrive. Having treated the girls, and washed the cub, the two Leaguers went to report back with the team and Batman on screen.

"How are they?" Nightwing asked.

"They'll be stable and they need rest. Anything on the missing teen's reports?" Black Canary replied.

"Nothing. Not even close to any of their descriptions." Nightwing replied.

"They were dehydrated almost entirely. Those girls must have been missing more than three days."

"One of them looked like they were ready for summer, or something." Beetle pointed.

"I've crossed checked every report for the last year, no hits."

Wolf stood up from his nap and walked down the hall. Upon entering the sick bay, Wolf walked over to one of the girls, the one who appeared the youngest, and had laid down beside her bed. Later on, Conner, who was searching for his friend, entered the sick bay, seeing Wolf lying next to one of the girls' beds.

"Wolf, come on. We should let them rest."

Wolf raised his head, ever so slightly, and then laid it back down. Conner, finding it strange that Wolf disobeyed him, walked over and bent down in front of his furry friend.

"What's wrong, boy?" Conner questioned as he pet Wolf's ruff.

Allowing Wolf to stay, Conner was called away for leaving to a planet called Rann, with Miss. Martian, Beast Boy and Adam Strange.

_**January 4**_**:**

Upon leaving to take down the Krolotean's platforms on Earth and Rann, Black Canary stayed with Mal Duncan, to ensure the girls stayed safe.

"How's everything out there, Mal?"

"Pretty good. Gamma's gonna need back up though."

"I'll go help them. Think you can handle it here?"

"Those girls are knocked out cold. I'm sure it'll be fine." Mal assured.

Black Canary nodded before zeta tubing out of the Cave. Not too soon after that, the youngest girl (thirteen) peered from a corner with the small cub on her back.

"I don't want to hurt him, Star." The girl whispered to the cub.

In the shadows of the corner, you could see her yellow eyes.

_**January 4 (Later):**_

The team zetaed inside, a hard mission that was success is over, on Earth any ways. The strange girl and the cub had fallen asleep but awoke when Nightwing started talking to the team.

"Good work today, team. We stopped the Kroloteans on Earth. We should hear from the squad I sent to Rann in a day or so. Go home and rest. You deserve it."

As Nightwing talked, the girl hid behind a wall. After Nightwing debriefed everyone, Wolf walked over to the girl. Picking her up by back of her shirt, Wolf walked over to Nightwing, plopping her ground.

"Hello there. Are you okay?" As Nightwing was going to touch her shoulder, the girl kicked him hard in the shin. "Ah!"

The girl started running away, but La'Gann tackled her to the ground.

"Let me go!" She screamed.

"We're not going to hurt—Ah!" La'Gann, trying to fight whatever it was, abruptly let go and was frozen in place.

"Lagoon Boy, don't let her get away!" Nightwing ordered.

"I—I can't move!"

"What?" Nightwing ran over and passed La'Gann, lying on the ground before finally getting up, after the girl.

But before he could catch her, she and the cub slipped into the sick bay, locking everyone out.

"Now what? If we break open the doors, we'll scare the poor girl even more." Cassie said.

"We'll have to wait for Miss. M to get back." Nightwing replied as he started to walk away.

"What—What if I could…get her to come out of the sick bay?" Blue Beetle asked.

"How so?" Robin asked.

"I have…a little sister at home and I thought, maybe…"

Everyone looked at Nightwing before he finally answered.

"You've got twenty minutes, Blue." Nightwing sighed.

Everyone left Blue to try and get the young girl to understand the situation. Removing the armor, Jaime knocked on the door.

"Hey. I won't you. Please…open up."

After a moment, a small knocking came from the inside.

"Do you talk?" There was a silence. "Knock once for yes." One knock echoed from inside the sick bay. "Do you speak…English?" Two knocks echoed. "Spanish?" One knock. "Can you tell me your name?"

There was a long silence before the door cracked open. Jaime bent down so he was face to face with the girl, who was on her hands and knees.

"Mirabella…" Her voice was soft but scared.

"Me llamo es Jaime Reyes."

"Star…Dust…" She said as she pointed to the cub.

"The wolf cub?" Mirabella (Mirra—ah—bell) nodded. "She's cute. Look, I promise we won't hurt you. We just want to make sure you're alright."

"Le mando?"

"What? Who? Who sent me?"

"El hombre…de la armadura negro?"

"You mean Nightwing? He won't—"

"El no estagui. El hombre no esta aqui."

"Who are you—"

"Blue? Everything okay?" Karen asked.

"_The young girl obviously knows something. We must—_"

"Ugh! Por favor! Let me handle this!"

"Okay, okay…We'll let you handle it. Geez…" Mal replied.

"No, wait! Oh…!"

"Se oye una voz…en tu cabeza?"

"Huh? Oh…yeah…The scarab, stuck to my spine. It talks to me…Advises me."

"Pepito Grillo con una mala actitud?"

"That's actually…exactly it. Jiminy Cricket with a bad attitude."

"Van a separar mis hermanas de mi?"

"I don't think Nightwing will separate you three." Stardust growled lowly. "I mean, you four." She stopped.

"Si lo hacen, puedo que darme contigo?"

"You want to stay with me? Why?"

"Me siento…safe with…you."

"I guess we'll have to see."

Mirabella crawled through the door and jumped into Jaime's arms.

"_She is attacking. Charging the plasma cannon._"

"Tengo miedo!"

"No one's gonna hurt you. It's alright." Jaime said as the plasma cannon deformed around his arm.

Walking into the debriefing room, Mirabella was clinging to Jaime's arm. Being thirteen, this was easy for her.

"Everything alright?" Nightwing questioned.

"She'll be okay. Her name's Mirabella and she only speaks Spanish."

"Lo siento por delante." She said after walking over to La'Gann.

"She said she's sorry." Jaime translated after seeing the confused look on La'Gann's face.

"It's okay. You didn't do any harm."

"Yo tengo el podor sobre las criaturas animals."

"She has the power over animals."

"That explains why I froze." La'Gann grinned.

"How are the other two?" Nightwing questioned.

"Asleep." Mirabella yawned. "Looks like someone needs some sleep." Jaime joked.

Mirabella nodded.

"I'll go put her down and then I'll go home. My parents are probably worried."

Mirabella hugged Jaime's arm tight when she heard he was leaving.

"What's wrong, Mirabella?" Jaime questioned as he bent down.

"No go! Stay!" She screamed as she hugged him.

"I'll be back tomorrow." He pushed her gently. "Promise."

She nodded after a long silence.

"Good. Now, come on." Jaime said as he led the girl back to sick bay.

_**January 5:**_

Late that night, Blue Beetle and Bumble Bee had gone to investigate and capture a Krolotean disguised in Bibbo's Diner, yet it escaped. As this happened, Mirabella was sitting on a chair between the other two girls she called sisters. Stardust was curled up on her lap. The door opened and Wolf walked in. Stardust jumped down and tried to attack Wolf, no effect considering Wolf picked her up by the back of the neck.

"_Wolf…Wolf…_" A small voice echoed. Wolf shook his head, trying to shake the voice, but it persisted. "_Wolf…can you hear me?...Please come here…"_

Wolf, with Stardust still in his mouth, padded over to Mirabella and placed the young cub near her feet.

"Thanks, Wolf." Mirabella lightly rubbed Wolf's large head and ruff as he put his head in her lap.

"I see Wolf's taken a liking to you." Nightwing said, scaring Mirabella and causing her to almost kick Stardust. "Hey! It's okay! Please, don't be scared." He said, catching the small cub carefully and placing her in Mirabella's hands.

She cuddled her small friend, and calmed down considerably as she realized that Nightwing was easier to approach than the other team members.

"Hi…" She said timidly.

"Hi, Mirabella. I'm Nightwing."

"Holá, Nightwing."

"Oh…Español. Sí?"

"Señor, yo estoy muy triste. Donde estas mis hermanas?"

"They should wake up soon." Mirabella took, what looked like the eldest, girls' hand and hugged it. "Mirabella…" She looked at Nightwing. "Can you tell me what happened out there…where we found you three?"

Mirabella dug her face into her hands, which still concealed her sister's hand, and silent rivers rushed down. Nightwing rested a hand on Mirabella's shoulder.

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything right now. When you're ready, I'll listen."

_**January 6:**_

"Hey, we're back! You guys gotta check out the souvenir…I…got." Beast Boy shouted as he ran into the Cave with Mirabella standing there. "Uh…hi."

"Holá."

"Oh, you speak Spanish?"

"Si. English is…"

"Hard? It's okay. Oh, I'm Beast Boy—I mean, Garfield."

Mirabella giggled as she covered her mouth with her fist.

"Mirabella."

"Cute name. I—I mean-"

Mirabella kissed him on the cheek.

"_Thanks._" The same voice from inside Wolf's head was now in Beast Boy's.

"Cool! Are you telepath like my sister?"

Mirabella made a shush sign, putting her index finger in front of her mouth.

"_Only with animals. Don't tell; please…If Armodura negro finds out_…"

"Whoa, slow down. Armodura nergo, that's black armor, right? Nightwing won't hurt you."

"_Armodura nergo isn't Nightwing. It's-_"

"Mirabella!" A voice shouted angrily in her head, blocking Beast Boy out.

Mirabella screamed as she fell into a cradle position.

"Nightwing!' Beast Boy shouted as he kneeled down next to Mirabella.

"Nightwing's out for the night. What happened?" Mal asked as he ran in.

"I—I don't know. We were talking and then—screamed—panic…Oh, what did I do?"

"Whoa, Gar…calm down. It's okay. Hmm…" Mal bent down and pulled off a small chip from the back of Mirabella's neck. "Huh…This was on the back of her neck. I'll show Nightwing later. Go check on the other two."

"We are fine." A female voice replied shakily, helping a slightly shorter girl stand up.


	2. Fitting in

Chapter Two

_**January 8:**_

The three girls hadn't said a single word since the sixth. No one budged them to talk, they left them be. Cassie had guessed their names.

"Mirabella, would you like some more pancakes?" M'Gann asked.

"Si. Muchas gracias, senorita! Tu comida es delisoso!"

"Thanks…I think."

Suddenly, Nightwing burst in and grabbed Mirabella by the arm. She screamed in panic, but it was Beast Boy who acted. He punched Nightwing in the face as hard as he could.

"Oh, my gosh! Nightwing, I'm so sorry! I—I—I don't know-"

"Garfield!" Megan snapped.

"I don't know! I—I—I just—And I—Oh, man!"

"Garfield, it's okay." Nightwing said, holding his eye. "I was wondering what would happen. Briefing in command room in ten minutes."

So everyone who lived there finished their breakfast and started for the command room, except for the three girls. Nightwing walked back over to them and smiled.

"You three as well. It's time to meet the whole team."

The girls smiled at each other and ran off to the command room, where the entire team was waiting. Running in, the middle child, Valentina, hadn't watched where she was going and crashed into Blue Beetle.

"Oops, sorry." She said as she stood back up. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"It's okay…um…"

"Valentina. Nice to meet you." She introduced as she held out her hand.

"Blue Beetle…" He clamped her hand as he started to get lost in her emerald green eyes.

"Under all that armor, you're a Hispanic…teen, right? Just like Mirabella." Valentina pointed as she pulled some of her black hair behind her ear.

"Uh…yeah…I mean-"

"Alright team! Listen up!" Everyone came to attention as Nightwing motioned the three new girls to the front. "We have three new girls here that have agreed to join the team. This is Mirabella, Valentina, and Aster. I want you to welcome them to the Cave because, until further notice, they will be staying here."

"Oh, this'll be great! Now I won't be the only girl." M'Gann said.

After everyone had dispersed, Mirabella ran over to Blue Beetle and hugged his arm.

"Oh, Mirabella…I am so sorry about her." Aster said as she ran over.

"It's okay." He bent down. "Don't worry. You'll be safe here. Okay?"

"Stay!"

"I—I can't. My family-" He stopped when he saw Mirabella's eyes filling with tears.

"She's really taken a liking to you. She doesn't do that with everyone." Aster said.

"Really?"

"She was casted from her mother when she found out about her powers. Mirabella's had _problems _since when it comes to trusting people. Right?"

"Si."

"Why don't you live with my family?" Jaime asked.

"Que?"

"Why don't you…" But before Jaime could finish, a bawling Mirabella crashed into his arms.

_**January 8 (Evening)**_

Sitting on the couch with his family, Jaime's mom was crying from hearing the _story _about Mirabella.

"She was all alone in the road? Abandoned? _Her_?" she questioned as she cuddled the young girl sitting next to her.

"_It's not a complete lie_." Jaime thought to himself. "Yeah. I couldn't just leave her like that…so can she…?" Jaime began as he walked over and set his hands on Mirabella's arms.

"Of course she can! I love her! And so does Milargo."

"I don't know." Jaime's dad disagreed.

"Oh…she's so sweet. Mirabella couldn't hurt a fly."

"Oh, alright…but under one condition."

"Papi?"

"You have to keep her out of trouble. You're responsible for her."

"Done. Thanks guys!"

"You're welcome. Do you need anything, mi querda?"

But there was no response. Mirabella had cried, happily, asleep on her new mom's lap.

"Aww…She's so precious."

"Mom!" Jaime exasperated.

Afterward, Jaime and his parents set up a sheet, blanket, and pillow along the couch and tucked Mirabella in. Turning off the lights in the living room, everyone disappeared. After a moment, Mirabella's sweet crystal blue eyes popped open. Sitting up, she looked around. She stood up and went to the stairs.

Stardust, coming from her hiding place from behind the couch, followed her human friend. Mirabella, Stardust following on her heels, walked up the stairs. After looking though the hallway of doors, they found Jaime's room. He was still up, studying his spread of papers on his bed.

"Jaime…?" Mirabella cooed.

Jaime looked from his papers to the door. Mirabella was hidden half way behind it, only seeing half her face and her hand on the door knob.

"Mirabella? What are you doing up?"

"I…couldn't sleep."

Jaime sighed and discussed in his head about what he promised his dad. He was responsible for Mirabella now. And that also meant he was responsible for Stardust, she was always with Mirabella, no matter what. He grinned softly and gestured his hand.

"Come here."

Mirabella, Stardust on her back now who jumped off, walked in and climbed onto Jaime's bed. She picked up the textbook and looked confused.

"I'm doing my math homework."

"M…ah…th?"

"Yeah…hmm…"

Stardust leapt for the bed but failed and crashed to the hard floor with a whine.

"Don't worry, Star. I'll…"

But Jaime couldn't help Star because she growled at him, and then tried again to leap to the bed. Continuously failing lead Mirabella to lean down and grab Star by the back of her neck, plopping her on the bed.

"Why wouldn't she let me help her?"

"Star…puede ser…terco."

Star growled before hopping into Mirabella's lap.

"You know…Star's really cute." Jaime said as he pet the cub.

After a moment, Jaime returned to his homework and Mirabella, with Stardust, jumped down and sat in the desk chair. It was really comfy to her. After a while, Jaime finished his homework and put it away.

"Alright, I'm all done. Mirabella?"

He hadn't noticed that Mirabella and Stardust had fallen asleep in his desk chair. Not wanting to disturb them, Jaime covered them with a blanket. The next morning, Mirabella ran down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Jaime? Jaime?" She called.

"What's wrong, querido?" Mr. Reyes asked.

Mirabella just looked scared and continued to run around the house. She was until Milargo caught her.

"Mirabella, what's going on?"

"Jaime…"

"Jaime's at school, silly."

"Oh, Milargo, you might want to hurry. Your bus will be here soon."

"Okay, mami! Bye papi!" Milargo called before heading for the door. "Don't worry, Mirabella. Jaime will be home around three o'clock."

As the day past, Jaime's dad left for work and his mom cleaned the house. Not wanting to be in the way, Mirabella and Stardust sat outside, on the stairs, waiting for Jaime to return. Later that afternoon, the computer voice rang at the Cave.

"_Recognized: Blue Beetle: B-2-2_"

"Blue! W—Where's Mirabella?" Valentina questioned as she ran over.

"At home with my family. Why?"

"Oh, no. Mirabella should never be left alone."

"She's not alone."

"I get that. Mirabella should never be left alone with people she doesn't fully trust…like your family."

Before Jaime could response, his phone rang.

"Hold that thought. Holá mom."

"_Hi, Jaime. Just wanted to let you know I'm running to the store. I left Mirabella at home because she was waiting for you_."

"Oh, alright."

"_You might want to hurry. I got a call from our neighbor who heard shouting and crying not too long after I left._"

"Okay, okay. I'm going." Hanging up the phone, Jaime grabbed Valentina's arm and pulled her through the zeta tubes. "You've gotta help me, Val."

"Is she throwing a tantrum?"

"Yeah. Wait, how'd-"

"She screams when she thinks someone has abandoned her. Aster did say she was having issues."

"Okay, but how do we get her to stop?"

The screaming got louder as they neared the house. Getting into the living room, Mirabella was screaming so loudly the two had to cover their ears.

"Go talk to her!" Valentina shouted.

"_Such a tactic would prove ineffective, Jaime Reyes_." The scarab argued.

"Por favor! Val knows more about her!"

"What?" Valentina asked.

"Ugh…Olvidelo!"

Jaime ran over and bent down in front of Mirabella.

"Mirabella! Mirabella! Please, calm down! I'm here!" Jaime shouted.

She couldn't hear him though. Jaime removed his hands from his ears and hugged Mirabella. Mirabella took a second, but her loud crying turned into a sniffling sob.

"Jaime?" She hugged him back. "I thought you…me dejo…"

"Never."

"Mirabella…"

She looked toward the door way, seeing Valentina.

"Val!" Mirabella shouted as she ran over and hugged her.

"Oh…How are you, Mirabella? Did you sleep alright?"

"Si."

"She stayed in my room all night."

Mirabella hugged Jaime again.

"Yo estaba preocupado. You didn't come home like your sister said you would."

"I stopped at the Cave. I guess I should've stopped here first."

"Come on. We should get back to the Cave." Valentina suggested.

_**February 10**_

"_Recognized: Blue Beetle: B-2-2…Mirabella: B-4-1…Stardust: B-4-2_"

"Aster!" Mirabella ran over and hugged Aster.

"Oh, there you are! Are you settling in alright?"

Mirabella nodded.

"I am…learning…En—En—En…ga…lish."

"I thought it would help. She's a fast learner." Jaime added.

"Jaime is a great profesor."

"Mirabella, remember?"

"Oh, right. En…ga…lish only. Sorry." Then Garfield walked in flipping through a packet of papers. "Garfield?"

Mirabella ran over and stopped him in his tracks.

"Ah…Oh, hey, Mirabella. What's up?"

"Want to…hang out?"

"Sure. But not now. I've homework I gotta do."

"Home…work?"

"Yeah…Haven't you ever gone to school?"

Mirabella crocked her head ever so slightly to the question.

"School? You know, where you learn stuff?" Mirabella looked even more confused. "Like history…science…reading…math?"

"Jaime was doing m…ah…th the other night. I don't understand."

"Uh…Noted…?"

"Hey Gar, how's that homework coming?" Carr asked as he walked in.

"It's okay, but Mirabella's never gone to school, let alone heard of it."

"Really? Mirabella, is this true?"

"Si…I mean—Yes, sir."

"Hey, English is coming along nicely."

"Thank you."

"Now, Mirabella, why haven't you gone to school?"

"Armadura nergo. He said I no needed…escuela."

"Who is Armadura nergo?" Gar asked.

"He is a-"

"Mirabella, no!" Aster said.

Aster ran over, taking Mirabella by the shoulders and pulling her closer, like a mother with her child.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Carr. I didn't mean to pry anything open."

"We are not allowed to talk about him." Aster snapped.

"Okay, okay…I have a question for Mirabella though…It has nothing to do with Armadura nergo."

"Alright." Aster sighed.

"Mirabella…how would you like to go to school?"

"She doesn't need it. She's perfectly fine."

"I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Mirabella. But…Mirabella, have you ever picked up a book and wanted to read it?"

Mirabella looked up at Aster, then at Dr. Carr. She thought back to the other night, when she tried to read Jaime's textbook. After a moment, Mirabella nodded proudly.

"Have you ever _read _a book?"

She shook her head.

"I—I don't know how to read." Mirabella replied.

"I could teach you. Then you would be able to read any book you wanted."

"Really?"

"But…I need Aster's permission."

Aster thought for a long moment before someone rested a hand on her arm.

"Aster, Mirabella needs this. I've never listened to **him**, and neither have you. Why should we start now?"

"Fine." Aster sighed. "She can be taught, but where do you teach exactly?"

"Right here in the Cave. Garfield's my student as well and I'm sure it'd be great if he had a classmate with him."

"Yeah, totally!" Garfield agreed.

"Alright. At least she's in a safe environment."

"Um…Dr. Carr?"

"Yes, Valentina?"

"Can I…talk to you…alone?"

"Of course. Come with me."

Valentina started to follow Dr. Carr when Aster caught her arm.

"Don't tell him."

"I'm not. I want to join the class with Mirabella."

Valentina left to talk with Dr. Carr.


	3. Anima's Past Haunts

Chapter Three

_**February 11**_

Valentina, Aster, Mirabella and Garfield reported for school. Walking in, the girls sat at the tables that were set up for them to use.

"Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Dr. Carr." Everyone greeted as Dr. Carr walked in.

"Today we will work on our literary and reading skills."

He passed out a book and two worksheets to the four before they all begin to work hard. Dr. Carr walked around to help them out one by one.

"Dr. Carr?"

"Yes, Mirabella?"

"What does this word mean?" Mirabella asked as she pointed to a word in her book.

"Oh! The word is _lying _and it means that someone did not tell the truth. It's a bad thing to do."

Dr. Carr started to walk away before noticing Mirabella's eyes started to fill with tears, and then abruptly burst into a crying.

"Mirabella? Mirabella, what's wrong?" Garfield asked as he tried to help.

"I'm a bad person…"

"No, you're not." Garfield argued.

"Yes, I am…"

Dr. Carr walked over and bent down next to Mirabella, slightly touching her shoulder.

"Mirabella…why would you think you are a bad person all of a sudden?"

"Be—Because I lied…"

"What did you lie about?"

"I lied about Black Beetle."

"What?" Dr. Carr questioned.

Sobbing, Mirabella put her head in her hands and looked even younger than she really was.

"Oh…shhh…it's okay, Mirabella. You didn't do it to hurt anyone, right?"

"Yeah…" She replied, slightly hiccupping.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. Not all lies are really bad. Some are done to protect others. Was that like your lie?"

"Y—Yes. I wanted to…to protect…my—my family."

"That's okay. You're not alone anymore. We can protect _you _now, and your sisters. We're family now too."

Mirabella burst into fresh tears and hugs Dr. Carr tightly. After class had finished, Dr. Carr handed homework out.

"If you girls need any help, I'm around."

"Thank you, Dr. Carr." Aster replied for the three girls.

Dr. Carr let them leave and then he walked out himself. Getting to the training room, Nightwing was just finishing a training session with Superboy. After Superboy left, greeting Carr on the way out, Carr walked over to Nightwing.

"Hey, Dr. Carr. How was the girls' first day?"

"Good…Until Mirabella told me something."

"What'd she tell you?"

"She said something about a _Black _Beetle?"

"Black? Hmm…Alright. I'll look into this _Black_ Beetle."

"And, Nightwing…I would have them see Black Canary for counseling. They seem…scared. They need protection and someone to talk too."

"Alright. Well, Mirabella and Stardust are staying with Blue. What about the other two? They seem to be fitting in around here."

"They need _protective _homes, not just the base. They need a real family."

"Well, we can't just leave them to a random family. So, what did you have in mind?"

"Let me take them."

"What?"

"Please, let me take them. I can help them…and my wife…she'd make a great mother for them. The team always helps me, and now I can contribute more help this way. Please, let me take care of the girls."

"We'll have to talk to them about it, but…alright. Are you sure you can take care of them?"

"Positive."

"Let's call them in later. We'll tell them then."

"I'll go home and get ready for them."

During lunch, M'Gann had made the girls, Nightwing walked in.

"Hey, Nightwing. Want some lunch?"

"Thanks, M'Gann, but I need to talk to Valentina and Aster for a second."

"What's up?" Val asked.

"Well, remember Dr. Carr?"

"Our teacher, of course." Valentina replied.

"Is he alright?" Mirabella questioned.

"He's fine. Actually, he proposed an idea for Valentina and Aster."

"What is it?" Conner asked.

"He wants them to have a home environment with an active family."

"So…he wants to take care of us?" Aster questioned.

"Yes."

"When do we leave? Can we come back?" Valentina asked as excitement started to take her over.

"Of course you can come back."

"This is so…**awesome**!" Valentina cheered.

The girls started running off while Nightwing rubbed his eyes. Just before Superboy left the room, he saw Nightwing stumble.

"Nightwing!" Conner ran over to help. "Are you okay?"

"I'm great…really…"

Nightwing almost fell again but Superboy caught him this time.

"Nightwing…"

"Okay…okay…" Nightwing coughed. "I'm not exactly great…"

"What's wrong?" Superboy questioned.

"I'm…sick…"

"Sick? You're never sick."

"At least…I think so…I feel weird."

"M'Gann! I need some help in here!" Conner called as he helped Nightwing to the couch.

Megan flew in, La'Gann right behind her, and landed behind the couch.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. He's sick…Really sick."

Megan's eyes glowed for a moment before she stroked Nightwing's head.

"He's exhausted."

"He's done a lot of training with the girls lately. You should rest now, Nightwing." La'Gann pointed out.

"No, I should be…Ugh…"

"Nightwing, rest. We can take care of the girls." Conner suggested.

"Are you sure?"

"They're sweet. I can handle helping them pack and the entire team can help run drills with them." M'Gann replied.

"Yeah. You just rest now." Conner added.

Nightwing fell asleep a few moments later, just as he was relaxing.

_**February 13**_

Jaime brought Mirabella with him to the Cave to see the zeta shields go online around the globe.

"Hey, Dr. Carr, you should have your Cave students write a term paper about this!" La'Gann joked.

The four students all gave him the same look, _shut up_.

"Jaime, does this mean we can't leave Earth?" Mirabella asked.

"Not by zeta at least."

"But it won't stop a rocket or a boom tube." Superboy added.

"Cool! Uh…What's a boom tube?"

Just as Jaime was about to answer, Superboy stepped in.

"Tag. You're it!"

"Where are you taking Jaime?" Mirabella asked as she started after them.

"We're just going out for a bit." Superboy replied.

"I'm coming with!" Mirabella shouted before jumping onto Superboy's back.

"No, Mirabella. Stay here."

"No, Jaime. Wherever you're going, I'm going too."

"I don't need you to get-"

"I'M GOING!" Mirabella shrieked.

"Alright…Alright…Superboy?" Jaime questioned, Superboy still holding his sweater.

Superboy rolled his eyes as he sighed in defeat. He just wanted to get out of the Cave.

"Fine. Just be careful…and stay with us."

"Yay!" Mirabella cheered as she hugged Conner tighter around his neck, but not enough to choke him.

Then the three suited up and left on the S-Cycle. Mirabella had a light brown short sleeve, dark brown legging pants, light brown combat boots and dark brown gloves. Mirabella had sat with Jaime on the S-Cycle and listened closely as he whispered to his scarab.

"_Ask…Ask…_" It repeated in his head.

"Alright, already! I'll ask!"

"Ask what?"

"Oh…uh…Any piece of this mission you wanna let us in on? Look, I know you only picked me because Gar was studying, and La'Gann and M'Gann were…whatever-ing, but I'm here, ese."

"We _both _are." Mirabella added.

"Yeah…" Jaime ruffled her hair a little bit. "And we want to help."

"Yeah…okay."

"Sweet!" Mirabella cheered quietly, but loud enough for the other two to hear.

"The bomb Aqualad used last month to destroy Malina Island was clearly of alien origin. Obviously, the Kroloteans that perished there didn't know anything about it. We need to figure out where it came from."

"Who do you think planted it?" Mirabella questioned.

"The criminal organization, Intergang, has a history of trafficking alien tech, smuggled to Earth through boom tubes."

"So…boom tubes are a different type, alien type, of transportation. A teleportation tube that can be used to smuggle, or transport, heavy, big objects." Mirabella explained in a questioning manner.

The two guys starred at the young girl in disbelief.

"Sorry…I kind of stumbled across some files while I was studying. After learning how to read, I read the files, but it was hard. I'm still learning how to read."

"Okay…No more file hacking for you, Mirabella."

"Sorry, Blue. And we're on a mission…"

"Uh…?"

"My mission name is Anima."

"You already came up with a name?" Superboy questioned.

"Yeah. So did Aster. She's Solara. Still working on Valentina, though."

"Cool." Blue replied.

"Anyways, I've keeping taps on Whisper A'Daire, one of Intergang's top lieutents. Tonight, her boss, Bruno _Ugly _Mannheim crawled out of hiding to met up with her. They're heading for the Hall of Justice."

Catching up with the truck, Blue tried to scan the case the two Intergang members were carrying. No use.

"Not compatable again? What does that even mean?"

"Blue, what do you mean? Who are you talking to?"

"To his scarab." Mirabella blurted.

"Mirabella!" Blue snapped.

"Oops…Sorry."

"Blue?" Superboy questioned, getting his attention again.

"It's the scarab. It's an artificial intelligence. It was created by the previous Blue Beetle. You know, Ted Kord."

"Ted Kord? Daddy?"

"Daddy?" The two boys questioned.

"I—I didn't want to say anything. Daddy…was secretive. He didn't have a life with me really. When he was around, I was always at his company. I hung around his office a lot."

"Do you…know what happened…to him?" Superboy questioned.

"Yes…I was there when it happened. Outside, anyways. After the explosion, I ran home as fast I could. On my way home, that's when Armadura nergo grabbed me."

"Eight months? He's had you for eight months?" Blue questioned.

"I—I guess."

"I'm so sorry, Anima." Superboy apologized.

"It's okay. But now I'm living Daddy's stories of the Blue Beetle. I thought they were all made up. Anyways, you were saying Blue?"

"Right. I heard he was good man, a super genius or something. The Light killed him before he had the chance to the scarab. It…advices me. Think…" Blue looked at Anima before grinning. "Jiminy Cricket, with a really bad attitude."

Mirabella grinned back. Later that night, Jaime and Mirabella snuck home and went to sleep. Jaime had a hard time though, still thinking of the Appellaxian that was destroyed that night. Mirabella had a dream of how the strange sonic blast destroyed the gentle giant. She knew where it was from and was scared all the same. Her dream turned into a memory of her father's death and the stories he would tell her before his untimely death.


	4. Valentina and Aster's Betrayal

Chapter Four

_**February 15**_

Mirabella was at the Cave studying, so Jaime grabbed his skateboard and went to his friend's house, Tye Longshadow. Knocking on the door, a female opened the door.

"Hello, Mrs. Longshadow. Is Tye here?"

"Tye! Jaime's here!" She called.

A young boy ran down the stairs with his skateboard in hand.

"Don't run away when I'm talking to you!"

"Just leave me alone, Maurice! I don't want to talk to you!"

"Hey, Tye. Ready to go?" Jaime asked as he motioned outside.

"Yeah, I'm coming."

"So, you're running away again, huh? Typical."

Tye was about to say, or shout, something but Jaime grabbed his arm. Sighing, Tye gave up and slammed the door behind him.

"Sorry you had to hear that, dude."

"It's alright, Tye."

Then, out of nowhere, someone tackled Jaime to the ground.

"What the-? Bro, are you okay?" Tye questioned.

"I think so." Then Jaime looked at the person who crashed into him. "Valentina?"

"Valentina? Who is this girl, Jaime?"

"Uh…"

"I'm a…uh…friend of Jaime's." Valentina replied.

"Never seen you around before."

"She's new in town. Just next door to me."

"Yeah, and…uh…I saw Jaime leave with his board and thought I'd tag along."

"Cool. I'm Tye."

"Nice to meet you, Tye. So, where we going?"

"You don't even have a board. How are you gonna keep up?" Jaime asked.

"Oh, I've got skates."

The two guys looked at her feet and then at her eyes.

"What?"

"You're wearing sneakers." Tye pointed.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Valentina bent down and pressed a button on the sides of her shoes, a blade of wheels popped out. "There."

"Cool. Where'd you get them?"

"My sister, Aster. She's pretty good with robotics. Gave them to me for—for—uh…hmm…I can't remember when."

"That's fine. Come on. Let's get going." Jaime suggested as he started.

The three skated away. As they got to town, Jaime and Tye grinded on a stair railing. Valentina stopped at the top of the stairs. The two guys stopped after noticing Valentina wasn't following anymore.

"Come on, Val! What's the matter?" Tye questioned.

"I—Uh…" Then Valentina went from scared to determined, quickly. "Nothing's wrong! I was just…uh…taking a break!"

Then Valentina went back a few feet before starting to pick up speed and jumping on the railing. As she got to the end, her skate bent her foot sideways and she went flying into the other two, knocking them over.

"Whoops, sorry." Valentina apologized as she got up.

"Not bad for a beginner." Tye said.

"Beginner? Whoever said I was only beginning? I've skated since forever."

"That certainly didn't seem like it."

"Tye…" Jaime whispered.

"No, it's okay, Jaime. I guess I am a little rusty. Ow…"

"What's wrong?"

"My ankle, it hurts."

"Your ankle's swelling up. It might be twisted." Tye concluded.

"Let's get her back to my place." Jaime suggested.

Valentina sat on Jaime's board and kept her foot on Tye's as they got her back to the Reye's household.

"Come on. We're almost there." Jaime said as he and Tye tried to help Valentina to the couch.

They set her there and, thankfully, his family wasn't home.

"Jaime!"

Except for Mirabella. Jaime hugged the young girl before setting her on the lounge chair.

"Dude, your mom adopting now?"

"O—Only Mirabella. She was outside when I came home one day. My parents agreed to keep her until we find her parents. I'm responsible for her."

"Jaime…who's this?" Mirabella asked.

"Mirabella, meet Tye. Tye, Mirabella."

"Mirabella? Cute."

Stardust growled as she came from behind Mirabella.

"Oh, this is Stardust." Mirabella introduced.

Tye looked at his friend, who smiled and shrugged. Tye bent down and pet the small cub.

"Oh, I better get you some ice, Val."

"I'm sure I'll be—Ah!"

"Don't move. I'll be right back."

Jaime went to the kitchen and got an ice-bag. Upon returning to the couch, he accidentally tripped and the ice bag broke, spilling the cold contents over Valentina.

"Ah! Whoo…That's cold!"

"Oh, my gosh! I'm so, so sorry!"

"Smooth Jaime…very smooth." Tye said, then sighed. "I'll get a towel…and I won't trip."

Tye left to get a towel while Jaime and Mirabella fussed over Valentina. No one noticed Stardust's whining for some water. In the commotion, the young she-wolf went into the bathroom. The resounding yowl and splash that followed, however, did get their attention. Mirabella screamed, and then rushed into the bathroom and rescued her wolf cub from the toilet.

"Oh…my…gosh…" Jaime said as he ran into the door way. "Tye, get another towel!"

"What did you do _now_, Jaime? I leave for one second and now…"

"Stardust fell into the toilet!" Jaime cut off.

"Really?"

"Yes. Get a towel because she needs a bath!"

After everyone was cleaned and Stardust had a bath, and a _safe _drink, Valentina called Dr. Carr.

"Doc?"

"_Ah, Valentina! How are you?"_

"I'm at Jaime's house. I'm okay, but I think I hurt my ankle."

"_I'll come over…_"

Suddenly Valentina hears gunshots and crashing in the background and she heard Lydia, Carr's wife, scream.

"_Lydia? Lydia!...Valentina, stay with Jaime!...Stay with…_"

Another gunshot went off and Dr. Carr's voice was cut off. Valentina heard a scuffle, dragging sounds and then silence as the phone switched to a dial tone.

"Dr. Carr!"

"Valentina, what happened?" Jaime asked as he ran in.

"Dr. Carr was just attacked! We need to go…now!"

"Alright…Alright." Jaime turned up the stairs. "Tye! Emergency! I have to go right now!"

"Alright! I'll keep an eye on things here!" Tye shouted back.

Jaime ran outside and activated his armor before tearing off into the sky towards Dr. Carr's house.

"Dr. Carr!" Jaime called as he walked up to the front door.

The front door was smashed in and the interior was sprayed with bullets.

"_Commencing life scans._" The scarab said.

The blue beam sliced through the rubble and then turned red as something was found. Jaime dug frantically and soon uncovered Dr. Carr's wife, Lydia. She cut up, bruised and bleeding badly from a gash in her leg.

"Mrs. Carr, are you alright?"

"They took him…they took him…" She groaned.

"Who? Who took him?"

"I don't know. He…the attacker…wore an orange mask and…he wielded swords…"

"Death stroke. Oh, man…that means the Light has Dr. Carr."

He then notices how pale Mrs. Carr was getting.

"We'll get him back…I promise."

"I know you will…they took him alive…but they want the girls."

"The girls?"

"Yes. I wish I knew why, but you need to protect them, too."

"Okay, I will. They won't be hurt."

Jaime, carefully, picked her up and carried her back to the Cave. Then he reported the attack to Nightwing, who assembled the team.

"Okay, Dr. Carr has been taken prisoner by the Light and his current condition, and location, is unknown. We're trying to get a lock on his signal, but it will take time. In the meantime, Mirabella, Valentina, and Aster cannot leave the base. Round the clock protection measures must be in place. Batgirl, Blue and Superboy will take first watch."

"Pero, mi familia!" Mirabella cried.

"It's okay, Mirabella. They'll know you're safe." Nightwing assured.

"Stardust!"

"…You didn't…" Jaime said.

"Si…I thought I could go back so…"

Nightwing sighed and turned to Kid Flash, who was helping temporarily.

"Kid…could you…"

The zeta tube went off twice, then Kid had Stardust, who got sick on Nightwing's boot.

"Oooh! Sorry, dude. My speed made her motion sick."

"…No problem…"

The little wolf wobbled away and flopped by the couch. Shortly after, Wolf came in and began to lick the little wolf again and again. Mirabella left to get a blanket, and then goes and grabs Jaime.

"Whoa! Oh, hey Mirabella…" Jaime noticed Mirabella was crying. "Mirabella! Are you okay?"

"Dr. Carr…"

"He'll be okay."

Suddenly, the scarab started to talk.

"_Don't make promises you cannot keep, Jaime Reyes._"

"Stop!"

Mirabella makes a funny face, Mirabella in confusion.

"Sorry. It's my scarab again."

"Okay…can I?"

"Have a hug?"

"Yeah…"

She cuddled Jaime for a while and then went to sleep in his lap. Hours later, Nightwing came in to talk to him, but found Jaime rubbing a sleeping Mirabella.

"We found him." Nightwing whispered.

"Where?" Jaime whispered back.

"Queen Bee's old place…It doesn't look good."

"Why?"

"They want to trade. Dr. Carr for the girls."

"Never!"

Jaime's outburst nearly woke Mirabella up, but they waited until she fell asleep again.

"I get it, but we can't." Jaime started again.

"And we won't. But they're saying they'll kill him if we can't co-operate."

"Talk about a rock and a hard place."

"We might not be able to…"

"Don't say it. We **will **save him…We have to…"

"Okay…We'll try our best. That's all we can do."

Then Nightwing left and Jaime looks down at Mirabella, still asleep, and wondered why anyone would want to hurt her, someone as precious as Mirabella. As Jaime got lost in thought, someone snuck up behind him and gently touched his shoulder.

"Oh, Valentina…" He said after he jumped slightly.

"Hello, Jaime. Nightwing told you they found Carr?"

"How-?"

"I noticed your body language and your outburst didn't keep it secret either. They want to trade…don't they?"

"Yes, but don't worry, we'll-"

"It's the only way."

"What?"

"Aster and I, we've been talking and…we're the only ones who can save Dr. Carr. Mirabella and Stardust will stay with you, stay here, where it's safe."

"But…they'll kill you."

"Don't worry about us, Jaime. Aster and I, we've been through this before."

"No, Val. I…"

Valentina covered his mouth with her hand.

"Don't say it, Jaime Reyes." Then a vine, with a closed flower, climbed up behind Jaime. "Sleep now." Then the vine's flower released spurs that knocked Jaime out. "I'm sorry, but I have to do this."

Then Aster came behind Valentina, resting a hand on her shoulder. Mirabella stirred and sat up.

"What—What's going on, Aster?"

"Mirabella, you stay safe. Stay with Jaime, he will protect you from them." Valentina replied.

"Valentina?"

She took Mirabella's shoulders lightly.

"Listen to me, Mirabella. Stay here."

"Jaime, wake up…Wake up…What's wrong with him? What did you do to Jaime?" Mirabella cried as she tried to wake him.

"Mirabella, he's only passed out. He will wake up in three days. You won't be hurt anymore. We'll be back. I promise." Aster said before kissing Mirabella's head.

Aster and Valentina started to walk away, to leave.

"Aster…Valentina…don't leave…Please…Don't leave me…Valentina!"

Valentina winced at her name being called and turned.

"I'm sorry, Mirabella. We have to do this…for you."

Then Valentina and Aster disappeared. Mirabella sat there on the couch and cried into Jaime's sweater until Nightwing and Superboy walked in.

**Chloe19Grace13Maeve: Sorry for the shortened chapter. Everyone really seems to like this story. And wanted an update ASAP, so that's what I'm doing. My co-writer, Emily, is really excited because of all the hits and favs and reviews we've been getting out of this story. Please, keep it up! We love it!**


	5. Love is Hard for Superheroes

Chapter Five

_**February 18**_

Jaime was starting to stir awake and when he fluttered his eyes open, he found himself in the team's med-ward with Nightwing watching over him, worried. Not really paying attention, Nightwing finally sees Jaime had woken up.

"Are you okay? How do you feel?" Nightwing asked.

"Fine…Ugh…What happened?"

"Valentina attacked you with plant toxins."

"She…what? No…She wouldn't…"

"She and Aster are apparently rogue and left Mirabella and Stardust behind."

"How could they?"

"I don't know."

"I need to find them!"

Jaime tried to stand up but almost fell. Nightwing caught him before Jaime fell to the floor completely.

"You need to rest. Those toxins really did a number on you." Nightwing said as he helped Jaime back on the bed.

"Ugh…Valentina…"

"I know…"

"No...She said something about…it being the only way. She and Aster went to save Carr."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes…Positive…"

"They left…three days ago, Jaime. And Carr hasn't even come back."

"What? Then we **need **to find them!"

"Jaime!"

Mirabella ran in with Garfield close behind.

"Sorry, Nightwing. I tried to stop her but she used her powers on me."

"It's okay, Gar."

"Jaime, Valentina hurt you?"

"I'll be okay, Mirabella."

Mirabella climbed up on the bed and hugged him gently, sobbing quietly. Jaime hugged her back.

"We need to get them back, Nightwing." Jaime said, almost demanding they get the two girls and Carr back.

Nightwing smiled gently.

"I'll start a search, but it'll take some time. Go home and rest, both of you."

Mirabella went from Nightwing's eyes to looking up at Jaime's, who was looking back. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

"Fine…but I want to know, the first _second _you get something, you call me."

"Promise." Nightwing said.

"Come on, Mirabella…Ugh…" Jaime said.

He tried to stand up again but just sat back on the bed again.

"Wait…" Mirabella climbed behind Jaime.

"I can't give you a piggy-back ride right now, Mirabella."

"I know. But I can cancel out the after damage Valentina did."

Mirabella placed her hands on the scarab and a slight yellow glowing emitted from her hands and eyes. After a moment, Mirabella stopped and climbed down from the bed.

"You should be able to walk now."

Jaime got up, preparing to fall again, but he didn't.

"Mirabella, how did you do that?" Garfield questioned.

"My **hermanas **and I found out we can cancel the _post_-damage, I think Dr. Carr called it, of each other."

"Awesome!"

"Let's get Stardust and go home." Jaime said.

They went to the living room, to find Stardust, when Mirabella stopped and grabbed Jaime's arm.

"Oh man…"

"Wha…"

Stardust and Wolf were cuddled together and were sleeping on the couch. They were snuggled so close that when Stardust moved in her sleep; Wolf moved and kept the little cub warm between his front legs and chest. Mirabella squealed ever so quietly.

"That…is…so…_lindo_." Mirabella whispered.

Jaime walked over to them and tried reaching for Stardust, but she under Wolf so close, he didn't know how to grab her without disturbing either one of them.

"I don't know how to get her out of there…" Jaime whispered.

"Don't…Let her sleep."

"Okay…"

They left without the young cub, but they took a lot of pictures before they went home. Once they got to Jaime's house, they found Jaime's mother waiting for them in the living.

"Jaime! There you are! Have you seen Tye?"

"Tye? No. He wasn't with me."

"Oh no…His poor Madre…"

"What do you mean? Mom, what happened to Tye?"

"He—He's gone…missing. Or he…ran off. I thought, rather hoped, he was with you."

"Tye…"

Jaime was very worried and struggled to keep his composure.

"I'm sure we'll find him Mom. He can't have gone far…"

"I hope, for his Mom's sake, he isn't…"

"We'll look for him."

"Good. I'm taking our car and joining the search. Do you want to come Mirabella?"

Mirabella looked up at Jaime and then back his mom.

"Can I stay with Jaime, Mama?" She asked.

Jaime's mom's eyes filled with a mother glow as she smiled an ear-to-ear grin.

"Of course you can, _mi ano_."

She left in a happy mood, calling over her shoulder, "Call me every **30 minutes** and take care of Mirabella, Jaime."

"I will, Mom…Jeez…"

Jaime and Mirabella left a little bit after and began to search their neighborhood for any signs of Tye or Mirabella's sisters. Jaime kept his word and kept in contact with his mom…and Nightwing. Then, abruptly, a shadow went overhead that was too large to be a bird.

"Mirabella, get behind me!"

She did, but it was unnecessary.

"Delivery. One small wolf cub for a…Mirabella?"

"Hey Superboy…Hey Sphere."

"Stardust!" Mirabella said as Stardust jumped into her arms.

"She was upset you left without her and wouldn't let us hear the end of it…Just keep her with you guys, okay?"

"Sure, but why?" Jaime questioned.

Superboy jumped down from Sphere and Sphere turned into her ball version.

"Nightwing might loose it if you bring her back too soon. She pestered him the worst."

"Oh…" Jaime said.

Mirabella held Stardust up so they face and face.

"Bad girl! Do not pester Nightwing."

Stardust managed to look sheepish but then licked Mirabella's face and whined.

"Okay…Okay…I'm not mad."

"Great punisher you are…" Jaime joked.

"Shush up." Mirabella grinned.

They renewed their search, when Stardust suddenly ran ahead.

"Star!" Mirabella shouted before rushing after her.

"Hey! Slow down!" Jaime called.

Conner and Jaime rushed after Mirabella, rushing after Stardust, and found themselves on the edge of town, where the two started to slow down. After a moment, Mirabella's scream sped them up again. Conner and Jaime rounded the corner and found her safe but in a campsite that wasn't that old. Mirabella was trying to free Stardust from a sock caught on her snout.

"What the…?" Jaime questioned.

"It's Aster's. She was here." Mirabella struggled as she tugged on the sock.

Superboy grabbed the sock and gently tugged the sock off, freeing Stardust's muzzle from the sock, and then rubbed her down.

"Good job. You're a good tracker."

Stardust wagged her tail furiously and looked very pleased.

"Could she find Tye?" Jaime asked.

"Probably, but we should stick to one mission at a time, Jaime." Conner replied.

Then Stardust barked slightly before sniffing the ground and starting walk into the camp.

"Stardust picked up a scent. Come on." Mirabella said as she followed Stardust.

The two guys shrugged and followed them anyways. They followed the trail until Stardust sat down.

"What's wrong, girl?" Mirabella asked as she petted Stardust on the head.

"Well?" Conner questioned after a moment.

"She says we're here…" Mirabella replied.

"I don't see anything…" Conner said as he walked a few feet and then fell flat on his face.

"Ow!" Valentina shouted as she came up from under some dirt.

"Valentina?" Conner questioned as he started to stand up.

"Val!" Jaime ran over to help her up. "What are you doing…hiding under that dirt?"

"Jaime? No, get out of here! He'll get you!"

"Who'll get him?" Conner questioned.

"Armadura nergo…he's here." Mirabella said as she attempted to pull Jaime away.

"Whoa…Mirabella, what are-"

"Jaime, please…You have to leave." Valentina said.

"Not without you, and Aster and Carr."

"I—I can't leave."

"Val?" Mirabella questioned.

Valentina bent down in front of her and held her shoulders gently.

"He—He's tagged me, Mirabella."

"Tagged?" Conner questioned.

"Chips…in our necks…They'll shock us if we leave."

"_Us_?" Jaime questioned.

"_Phssst_…Over here…" Next to a broken down building, Aster was hiding in the shadows and calling over to them.

"Come on, we're in the open. We should hide." Valentina said as she ran over to Aster.

The others followed her closely.

"Aster!" Mirabella hugged her sister.

"Oh, shush, Mirabella."

"Sorry, Aster…"

Conner looked behind Aster and saw Dr. Carr, sitting down.

"Dr. Carr! Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yes, thank you."

"They tagged you too?"

"Yes, actually, but…" Dr. Carr stood up. "…If Jaime's scarab can tap into the chips carefully, I think he'd be able to cancel them out."

"I could try."

Jaime armored up and three _feelers _emerged from his back, and to the back of Aster, Valentina, and Dr. Carr's necks, shocking them slightly, shorting them out.

"Oh…" Valentina hugged him. "I think you did it!"

"Hehe…I think I did." Blue agreed.

"Let's test it." Aster suggested.

Aster walked over to the edge of where the camp ended and stepped away a little bit, no shock. Same with Carr.

"It worked! We're free!" Valentina cheered.

"Good job, Blue." Conner said.

"Thanks. I…"

"AAHH!" Valentina screamed until Blue and Conner pulled her back into the camp, where she passed out.

"No…Wha—What have I done?"

Jaime shorted her chip out again and carried her to Sphere. Conner walked over and rested a hand on Jaime's shoulder, who looked up at him.

"I don't know what happened. I thought her chip was shorted out. I—I don't know what happened."

"Blue, it's okay. Valentina will be fine. Let's just get her back to the Cave." Conner said, calming him down.

_**February 19**_

Valentina was still asleep in the med bay. Jaime and Mirabella were asleep next to her bed in a chair. Dr. Carr watched them rest, and then walked into the main room of the base, where Nightwing was working. Nightwing, with his ninja skills, felt someone's presence, and looked over his shoulder.

"Oh, Dr. Carr. Are you—AAHH!"

Dr. Carr lowered his taser and Nightwing collapsed onto the floor. Stardust saw this, and rushed into the med-ward. She then clamped her tiny, but powerful, jaws onto Jaime's foot after pulling off his shoe.

"Mother of-!" Jaime yelled.

He jumped up, sending Mirabella crashing to the floor.

"Jaime? Jaime, what happened?" Mirabella asked before noticing Stardust.

Stardust had lowered her front half and covered her eyes with her tiny paws.

"Stardust, why'd you bite him?"

Then Mirabella gasped after a moment.

"What? What'd the little…_thing_…say?" Jaime asked.

"Stardust said she saw Dr. Carr taser Nightwing." Mirabella replied.

"No way. Dr. Carr wouldn't—Oh, hey Dr. Carr."

Then Dr. Carr ran over and hit Jaime with a pipe, but Jaime got back up.

"Dr. Carr, what are you—Ah!"

He was going for Jaime again, but just before Dr. Carr bashed Jaime's head in, vines twisted and tangled around Carr, immobilizing him. Looking, Jaime saw Val starting to sit up.

"Val, you're okay!" Jaime said as he got up and ran over to her side.

"Yeah…Thank goodness. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but…"

"It's Psimon."

The four looked, seeing M'Gann.

"M'Gann!" Val said as surprise covered her words.

"How are you, Valentina? I heard about what happened."

"Been better. But who's Psimon?"

"A telepath for a villain named Queen Bee. He must be controlling Carr."

"Can you help him?" Mirabella asked.

M'Gann nodded slightly before her eyes glowed and Dr. Carr stopped struggling.

"Huh? How'd I get here? And why am I tangled in vines?"

"I put a psychic shield on his mind. Psimon can't hurt him anymore."

"Yay!" Mirabella cheered.

"Valentina, you can let him go now." Aster said as she walked in behind Megan.

Valentina nodded and groaned as the vines disappeared. As everyone heard Nightwing groan in the next room, they rushed out, except for Jaime who caught Valentina just before she got too far away.

"Jaime? What's wrong? We should—MAH…mmm…"

Jaime had pulled her close and kissed her. Valentina wrapped her arms around Jaime's neck and pulled herself closer into the kiss.


	6. The Impulsive Hearts

Chapter Six

_Jaime had pulled her close and kissed her. Valentina wrapped her arms around Jaime's neck and pulled herself closer into the kiss._ She pushed away a moment later, stepping back so she was a few feet away from Jaime now.

"Valentina, what's wrong?" Jaime questioned as he tried to walk toward her.

"I—I'm sorry, Jaime…I…I just can't do this."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"This…**thing**…between us right now, I can't do it. I can't go out with you."

"But…why not?" Jaime asked.

"I—I just don't think I'm ready for a relationship yet, Jaime."

"Oh…" Jaime said disappointingly.

"But…maybe we could catch a movie or something. Mirabella would like it."

"Uh…Sure. Cool…"

"Cool…"

"_Val! We need some help out here!_" Aster called from the other room.

"Coming, Aster!" Valentina turned back to Jaime. "I gotta go. See ya…later."

"Yeah…see ya."

Then Valentina turned and headed for the door to help the others.

_**February 21**_

Jaime walked into the Cave, sluggishly. Mirabella, who spent the night at the Cave, ran over and jumped on Jaime, knocking him on the floor.

"Oops, sorry, Jaime." Mirabella apologized.

"It's okay, Mirabella." Jaime said as he sat up and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Are you okay, Jaime?"

"Not really sure, Mirabella. I was up all night looking for Tye."

"Oh…You didn't find him?"

"No…"

"Oh…I liked Tye. He was nice. I'm sure we'll find him, Jaime."

"Thanks, Mirabella."

"Hey, Mirabella, come here! I gotta show you something!"

"Coming, Garfield!" Mirabella stood up with Jaime. "I gotta go. See ya later."

"Huh? Oh, yeah…See ya." Jaime said as he remembered how Valentina said it a few days before.

Mirabella, hesitantly, ran off to hang out with Garfield, leaving Jaime alone to walk the rest of the way into the Cave.

"Hey Mirabella!"

"Hi. How are you?"

"Great! Come on! I want to show you something awesome!"

Garfield grabbed Mirabella's hand and pulled her along the corridors of the Cave. Then he twirled her around and covered her eyes with his hands.

"Garfield?"

"Don't worry. It's just a surprise. No peeking!"

"…Okay…"

He led her into a room and then he released his grip, light shining into Mirabella's eyes now, and she saw that he had made her a personal art studio.

"Oh, my!" Mirabella exclaimed.

"Well, do you like it?"

Speechless she nodded and he jumped into the air and did a summersault.

"I knew it! Well, here's a quick tour of the place, note this is still a work in progress."

They spent hours going through all of the art supplies and tools together, even taking pictures with the new camera he got for her.

"Oh! One more surprise Mirabella."

"**Another one?!**" Mirabella questioned as surprise spat out.

"Yeah!"

Garfield left the room for a brief moment, and then returned with a beautiful gift, wrapped in a wolf print gift wrapping.

"Oh Garfield, you didn't have to do all this for me!"

"That's the thing, I wanted too…Open it!"

Mirabella opened her gift and saw an earthy green jewelry case. Inside was a beautiful necklace decorated simply with amber beads and a wolf's claw. It was perfect in her eyes.

"Garfield… this is…"

"Wait! You didn't look at the lid of the case!"

"What?"

Upon looking closer, she saw a post it stamp with the words _Will you be my girlfriend?_

"I may look tough on the outside, but I'm like a weasel on the inside. I'm not so good with girls, so I…."

Mirabella grabbed him in a hug and kissed him right on the lips.

"You're wonderful to me! I say, YES! I'd love to be your girlfriend."

Garfield hugged her back stunned and happy.

"That's awesome."

Outside a saddened Blue Beetle left with a heavy heart.

"What's wrong with me?..."

Robin noticed his friend.

"Wrong with you?"

"I'm fine. I'm…."

Suddenly the scarab let out a strange noise to Robin, and he saw Blue collapse.

"BLUE!"

Nightwing heard Robin's scream and came running along with Superboy.

"What happened?" Nightwing questioned.

"Blue got attacked by something sonic, I think. I heard this weird buzz and then he just collapsed."

"I would have known if it was sonic, my super hearing would have picked it up." said Superboy.

"Let's get him into the med-ward." Nightwing suggested, almost demanded.

As the guys moved Blue into the Med-ward, Valentina suddenly saw Blue's condition and ran over.

"What happened to him?" She asked.

"We're going to find out, Valentina. Don't worry." Superboy smiled, but it faded when he saw how Valentina looked so worried. Superboy hugged Valentina gently. "It'll be okay…Blue's gonna be just fine, Valentina."

Superboy and Valentina walked into the living room area, sitting on the couch.

"Thank you, Superboy."

"You can call me Conner. It's my name…My real name."

"Okay…Conner."

_**February 23**_

Valentina had sat by Blue's bed for two days now, feeling guilty about what happened to Blue Beetle, Jaime…The one she loved, and never wanted to hurt. The door slid open and closed as Mirabella and Garfield walked over.

"Is he…any better?" Mirabella asked.

"I…I'm not sure, Mirabella. I'm sorry. I wish knew." Then Valentina thought to herself. "_Why can't I just tell him the secret? He would be happy. Happy to know that someone can…_"

_**February 28**_

Mirabella walked in through the zeta tubes, wearing a new outfit her mom had brought her: blue ripped jeans, yellow tube dress, a jean jacket, and black ankle boots.

"_At least we found out what the unknown impulse was._" She could hear Garfield say in the next room.

"_Impulse…_" Mirabella walked in and saw a boy a couple years older than she was, dressed in a white and red outfit with yellow goggles over his eyes. "That's so crash!"

"Huh? Garfield?" Mirabella questioned.

Then the unfamiliar auburn haired boy raced behind her, holding her shoulders.

"And one word like Anima. And Beast Boy. Wait, that's two words. Hey Blue Beetle's two words. Is he here?" Mirabella was going to answer, but the new boy answered quicker. "Never mind. Impulse…can find out for himself."

Impulse, as he sped down the hallway, accidently knocked Mirabella down, falling on her back. She laid on the floor, in a little bit of pain, and screamed for her sister.

"Valentina!"

Valentina rushed into the hallway, just as Impulse was passing the door, and felt something pass her. Out of instinct, Valentina made vines pop from the ground, but missed Impulse completely. As the few heroes tried to capture him, all failing, Impulse was rushing down a different hallway and, at the last minute, he noticed Aster walking by as she was reading a book, and accidently tackled her to the ground.

"Whoops. That was mode." Then he looked down, seeing Aster's purple eyes, which for some reason, made him smile. "Oh, hello…I…uh…I didn't-"

"Get off of me!" Aster shouted as she pushed him off.

Then Nightwing, standing behind him, cuffed Impulse's hands and feet, causing him to fall over. Valentina left for the med-ward again, worried about Jaime.

"Now that…was crash."

"For you maybe. For me? I'm so feeling the mode."

Then a small groan came a few feet away. A soaked Garfield turned and saw Mirabella starting to get up.

"Mirabella…" He rushed over and tried to help her up. "Are you alright?"

"I—I—I think…so…I hit my head."

Robin shined a light from a flashlight in her eyes for a moment.

"She'll be okay. No concussion, just a small bump on the head." Robin reported.

"What were you thinking? Why did you push her on the ground?" Garfield shouted, darting his eyes at Impulse as he walked over.

"I—I…didn't realize. Sorry?"

"Sorry? You're sorry? You could have hurt her!" Garfield walked closer.

"Okay, Garfield…Calm down. It was an accident." Nightwing soothed as he put his arm in Beast Boy's way.

"Mirabella, _are _you alright? How's your head?" Robin asked.

"I think I'll be okay. Thanks."

Garfield walked back over to Mirabella, helping her back on her feet.

"I like your dress." Garfield said.

"Thanks, Gar. My mom bought it for me, the entire outfit."

"It looks good on you."

Mirabella blushed gently. The two's attention was brought to Impulse again when he screamed and fell over from his seat. Stardust had jumped on him and was barking loudly.

"Stardust! No!" Mirabella shouted.

She didn't listen. Just before Stardust was about to scratch Impulse's face, Wolf had walked over, picked her up with his teeth, and walked down the hall to Aster's room.

"Thank you, Wolf." Aster said as she opened the door and petted Wolf's head.

Wolf disappeared into the room.

"Yay Aster!" Mirabella cheered.

A while later, Impulse has explained that he was a tourist from the future.

"A tourist?" Aster questioned.

Then Nightwing walked in with a glass of water.

"Wow…You must be pretty thirsty, coming all the way from the future." Nightwing said before giving Impulse some water.

"Ah! Ah-ha! You need my spit…for DNA. That is such…a Dick Grayson thing to do."

"How did you-"

"See? I know things only a future boy would know. Like, your names. Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Garfield Logan, Aster Somoza and Mirabella Kord."

"That's not my last name." Mirabella pouted.

"Then…what is your last name?" Garfield questioned.

"I…I don't have one. I gave it up after…Dad died."

Garfield rested his hands on her shoulders and Mirabella gently touched one.

"Your speed?" Robin asked.

"I'm Bart Allen, the grandson of the Flash, Barry Allen."

"Noted. Not believed, but noted."

Mirabella giggled. She loved it when Garfield _noted _things. She thought it was cute.

"Come on. I obviously got his speed, dashing good looks…plus, I know only things a future boy would know."

Garfield was going to shoot off questions, but Mirabella walked over. She whispered in his ear.

"Who is Armadura Nergo?"

"Black Beetle. He tortured you four, gave you powers." Bart whispered back.

It was silent for a minute.

"Mirabella…?" Garfield asked.

Mirabella was about to answer, but then the computer spoke.

"_Recognized: Mal Duncan: B-1-0_"

"Sounds like a door opening somewhere. That's my que." Then Impulse vibrated himself free of the cuffs and ran out.

_**February 29**_

Inside Jaime's head, he was starting to wake, starting to get up. To get up in a darkened room is one thing, but one with no way out, without really even knowing where the place is, where the darkness is coming from, is a whole other world.

"W—Where am I?" Jaime asked.

"You are unconscious. I wanted to talk to you…Alone."

"S—Scarab? What's wrong? Why couldn't you have just told me like you normally would?"

"Because you were not alone. I needed you alone."

"So, making me unconscious is a good idea? Okay…What do we need to talk about any ways?"

"We need to talk about Valentina."

"What about her?"

"When Valentina rejected you, your body changed emotionally."

"It's called breaking my heart."

"By breaking your heart, I am afraid you will become…distracted far enough where you may be killed. A state I cannot help you in."

"So, what do you want me to do about it, scarab? I **make **her love me! And I'm not going to force her to either! It's wrong!"

"I want you to forget about her."

"I can't forget about her, you stupid scarab! Valentina…she's—she's my other half when she's around. It's like she can understand what I'm going through, how I really feel, how I…"

"I understand Jaime Reyes, but Valentina cannot live among your thoughts forever since she does not truly love you."

"**No! You're**…right…I can't keep a hold of Valentina forever, but…I can't just simply get over her. I have to heal gently, scarab. Can you let me do that, please?"

"Yes…I will let you heal gently, Jaime Reyes."

"Thank you."

"And before you go…I believe Valentina will have something _surprising_ to tell you when you wake up."

"Wait. What? What is it?"

But before the scarab could answer, the dark room faded and light gingerly was let in as Jaime opened his eyes. Distorted voices, blurred images, numbness that had fallen over his body has now started to disappear gently and slowly. Jaime tried to sit up, but couldn't until someone gently helped him. Looking, it was Valentina.

"Valentina? Oh…my head…" Jaime groaned as he held his head with one hand.

"How do you feel?" Valentina questioned.

"Like I've been asleep for a month."

"More like…two weeks. It's February twenty-ninth."

"Two weeks?! Man, that conversation was a long one, ese." Jaime said.

"Conversation? You didn't really talk. You didn't really do much of anything really." Valentina replied.

"Not with you, I meant the scarab."

"Oh, right…Jaime, listen…About before…"

"Yeah?" Jaime questioned, still in pain.

"Uh…" Valentina sat down on the bed, just missing Jaime's hidden feet. "Um…I wanted…I wanted to…"

"_Valentina! Help! Ah!_"

"Mirabella!" Jaime shouted.

"_Don't bother, Valentina! It's only Bart…again!_" Aster called.

"Oh, crud…Not again." Valentina groaned quietly as she placed her forehead in her hand.

"Who…Who's Bart?"

"Bart is Flash's grandson who is touring from the future and is now stuck in this time." Valentina explained.

"Then what's Mirabella screaming about? He's good right?"

"Of course, but Bart tickles Mirabella every time he sees her. I'll be right back. Your sweater's on the chair there. You were sweating pretty badly so Nightwing took it off."

Valentina, Mirabella's screaming getting to her, left and walked into the living room area. Jaime followed not too far behind, slipping on his sweater that was folded next to him. Getting in there, Valentina noticed that Mirabella's face was turning a red/violet color.

"Bart! Stop! She can't breathe!" Valentina shouted as she started running over.

Bart Allen stopped his fun and let Mirabella go, along with Stardust who was in Mirabella's overall dress.

"Whoops, sorry, Mirabella. Sorry Stardust."

Stardust just gingerly scratched Bart's hand.

"Ow…hey…"

Valentina helped Mirabella sit up again so she could breathe properly.

"Mirabella, are you okay?"

"I think so…"

Garfield came over with some water, handing it to Mirabella.

"Here. This should help."

"Thanks, Gar. You're so sweet."

Garfield started blushing slightly.

"You gonna be okay, Mirabella?" Bart asked.

"Yeah…I'll be okay." Then Mirabella noticed Jaime. "Jaime! You're up!" She shouted as she hugged Jaime.

"Hey…How you feeling?" Bart questioned.

"I'll be okay…I think. My head still hurts. So…you're Bart?"

"Bart Allen, a.k.a Impulse. Nice to meet you."

"You too…I'm…"

"Blue Beetle, I know."

"I told him!" Mirabella added.

"Oh, Valentina, you were going to tell me something?"

Valentina grabbed Jaime's hand and pulled him back to the med-ward.

"I wanted to tell you, about the other day…I'm sorry. I realize how upset you were and…maybe, not now, but in the future, we could…be together? Is that okay?"

Jaime's shocked face faded into a smile as he took Valentina's hands.

"I would like that."

"Great. So, right now…just friends?" Valentina said as she slipped her hands out from his and put one hand up for a hand shake.

"Just friends." Jaime said, clamping on of his hands to hers in agreement.


	7. To Love Someone and Missing That Love

**C19G13M: Hey guys!**

**E: Hey, I'm here too!**

**C19G13M: Yep. We both are. Anyways, we wanted to say, thank you for all the reviews we've received and to say sorry for the poor Spanish, we've been using a translator.**

Chapter Seven

_**March 1**_

The quiet morning in the Cave was shattered by the sounds of a rigorous fight. Valentina, Nightwing and Blue Beetle rushed in to find Impulse fighting with Garfield.

"Stay away from her!" Garfield shouted.

"Dude, come off it! So what if I hang out with Mirabella? We're friends!" Impulse shouted back.

"Then why do you keep making moves on **my girlfriend**?"

"She's cute! What can I say?" Impulse joked slightly.

"She's _**mine**_! Keep away from her!"

"You're jealous of devilishly good looks!"

"No, I'm not!"

They shared a few more blows before Nightwing managed to wrestle them apart.

"You two are acting like children! Cut **it **_**out**_. If you two can't work _together _as a **team,** you can't be a part of the squad. Do you understand?" Nightwing said.

"Yes…" The two agreed disgruntled.

"Garfield, you never struck me as the aggressive type. What happened back there?" Valentina asked.

"We were fighting over Mirabella." Garfield asked, embarrassed.

"Mirabella? Why?" Blue and Valentina asked in unison.

"I don't like how Impulse is always so close with her. It's like he knows everything about her. Not just because he's from the future or anything. It just makes me feel…I don't know…inferior when it comes to her feeling. I **want **to know her and I **want **to be there for her." Garfield explained.

"Oh…jeez…Garfield, she loves you. If she didn't, she wouldn't have said yes to be your girlfriend." Valentina soothed.

"And smacking him around might not be the best negotiation tactic, ese." Blue added.

"I know." Garfield sighed.

Bart runs up next to Garfield.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." He said as he lightly punched Garfield's arm.

"ARGH! You!" Garfield groaned.

"Yeah, I know, but you've got the wrong impression anyways."

Valentina, Garfield and Jaime were all confused.

"I like Aster, not Mirabella. And I wanted to get on good terms with her sisters **before **I made any moves on Aster."

"Oh…" Then Valentina realized how sweet Impulse was. "Aw…That's so sweet!"

"Shh…! I don't want people to think of me as soft." Bart hushed.

"I already thought that." Garfield said as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"**What?!**" Bart questioned in panic.

"I'm just kidding. You're not so bad after all, Impulse. Sorry about over reacting before."

"It's okay. All's forgiven. And…you can call me Bart."

Later that night, M'Gann was busying making dinner so Mirabella was in her art studio, painting out of boredom. She sighed after a while, set her brush down and turned on her camera. She flipped through her photos filed on the small camera and found the ones her and Garfield had taken a few weeks ago when Garfield first showed her the studio. Starring at the photos, she popped an idea and headed for her room across the hall. There weren't a lot of rooms left so she moved her stuff from her sisters' room and into Garfield's room, for when she stayed over. Opening her dresser, Mirabella pulled some clothes out and changed. On the couch, Garfield was watching TV with the others when his phone beeped.

"Huh? It's from Mirabella." Garfield whispered to himself.

Opening the text, it read _Our room. NOW!_ Garfield rushed to his room, opened the door, but Mirabella wasn't in sight.

"Mirabella! Mirabella? Where are you?" Garfield called.

His phone beeped again. It was another text from Mirabella and it read _On your bed._ On Garfield's bed was some folded clothes with a note. Garfield picked up the note and read aloud to himself.

"_Change into this and meet me in the studio._ Hmm…huh…"

Garfield shrugged and changed into the outfit Mirabella had picked out for him. The outfit was a red dress shirt, white dress pants and a white vest. After he finished buttoning his shirt, he walked across the hallway to the studio. When he walked in, someone covered his eyes.

"Ah!" He shrieked slightly.

"Don't worry. It's just a surprise. No peeking!" Mirabella whispered into Garfield's ear.

Garfield chuckled at the notice of the words and realization it was Mirabella.

"What's the surprise?" Garfield questioned happily.

"One minute." Mirabella said.

Then Garfield heard gentle music play in the room.

"Okay. You can look now." Mirabella said as she removed her hands.

Garfield saw that the room had been moved around slightly, some colored lights were shining around the room, a small CD player was playing music (Stardust sitting next to it) and Mirabella was in a beautiful brown with spring green lacing at the bottom, and a spring green sash across the middle, and white flats with the necklace he gave her the month before. Her hair was put in a messy bun that, somehow, brought her whole outfit together.

"Mirabella, what is all this?" Garfield asked.

"Surprise!" Mirabella said before she took Garfield's hands. "I want this to be our first date."

"Really?"

"Yeah…Since you can't go into the city off duty, I thought we could have our first date right here."

Garfield was speechless. He wished he could've brought Mirabella into the city so they could have an actual date, but he couldn't look human enough to do so.

"Garfield…Are you okay?" Then Mirabella gasped slightly. "You don't like it. I'm sorry. I thought you would. I-"

"Mirabella, wait, slow down." Garfield said as he caught Mirabella's hand. Mirabella turned back to him in wonder and worry all at once. "I love it. I just…I just wish I could've brought you to the city so you wouldn't have had to do all of this-all of this by yourself."

"Oh, Garfield…I like being here with you. We don't have to go into the city to have dates. Just like your sister and La'Gann have their dates here, we can too."

"Are you sure?"

Mirabella smirked slightly.

"Come on…" Mirabella said as she pulled Garfield to the middle of the space.

"I…Uh…I should probably tell you…I don't really know how to dance." Garfield confessed, embarrassed.

"It's okay…I don't either. But I've seen Aster dance tons of times and I've seen movies with dance scenes."

"Really?"

Mirabella nodded.

"Just put your hands around my waist like this." Mirabella said as she placed Gar's hands around her. "And then I put my hands on your shoulders, like this, and then we just listen to the music."

"Okay…" Garfield said nervously.

"_Take my hand, take a breath, pull me close and take one step. Keep your eyes locked on mine and let the music be your guide._" Mirabella sang as they started to dance slowly.

"I don't think I can do this…"

"Just listen to me, Garfield. You'll be alright. _It's like catching lightening; the chances of finding someone like you. It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do. And with every step together, we just keep on getting better. _So…can I have this dance?_"_

Mirabella and Garfield laughed at the silliness they were doing with the dance. Then they both took a deep breath and went back into their dance position.

"_Take me hand, I'll take the lead. And every turn will be safe with me. Don't be afraid, afraid to fall_._ You know I'll catch you through it all._" Garfield sang.

After a while of good dancing, Mirabella felt so content. She felt like she would never leave this moment. Then Mirabella rested her head on Garfield's chest, folding her arms under his.

"Mirabella…are you alright?"

"Mm…yeah…I just don't want this moment to end. I feel…so…what's the word?"

"Tired?"

"No…happy…I feel so happy right now…right here…with you. You make me feel safe."

Garfield smiled softly and wrapped his arms around Mirabella as they just stood there together, just listening to the music. After a long moment, Mirabella opened her eyes, still holding onto Garfield.

"Garfield…"

"Hmm…Yeah, Mirabella?"

"I heard…about you and Bart this morning."

"You did?" Garfield questioned, disappointed with himself as he recalled that morning.

They stayed together like they were glued almost.

"Yeah…Garfield…you don't have to compete for my love…because…you've already won it." Mirabella leaned back up and pressed her forehead on Garfield's. "I love you, Garfield Logan."

Garfield went from disappointment to a soft smile.

"I love you too, Mirabella." Garfield answered before he kissed her.

Their moment was ruined as someone shouted from the hallway.

"_Garfield! Mirabella! Dinner's ready!_" M'Gann called.

They pulled away forcefully before Garfield groaned.

"We're coming, Megan!" Garfield called.

Mirabella giggled at Garfield's frustration at his sister's call.

"I guess we better get going then." Mirabella said.

Just as Mirabella passed Garfield, heading for the door, he caught her hand gently, just on the fingertips.

"I don't want this night to end. After dinner, you've gotta go home with Blue. I…I don't want to…to say goodbye."

Mirabella smiled gently and walked back over to Garfield, gently holding his head up so they were looking at each other in the eye.

"Then don't say goodbye. I'll be back tomorrow." Mirabella said before kissing Garfield's cheek. "Promise."

Garfield took Mirabella's hands in his as they stayed on his face.

"Promise, promise?" He asked gently and hopefully.

"Jaime's gotta go to school, and no one will be home so, yeah. I'll be back tomorrow morning."

"Cool…"

"Cool…Come on. Before your sister starts freaking out on us." Mirabella said as she headed for the door.

Garfield stood there, watching her leave, and then ran out after her.

_**March 2**_

Garfield had gotten up early so he could meet with Mirabella when she came in the Cave first thing. He had gotten up, showered and had breakfast all within an hour and a half. He fixed up the studio, because he thought that's where Mirabella would like to hang out that day, since Dr. Carr was out of town and they didn't have homework to do. At eight o'clock, Garfield stood by the zeta tubes, waiting for them to _recognize _Mirabella or Anima, as she was called on the job, but when nine o'clock rolled around, still no one showed. Then Karen walked into the room, ready to leave for school herself, when she saw Garfield just sitting there.

"Hey, Gar. What'cha waiting for?"

"I'm waiting for Mirabella. But…she hasn't showed up yet. We were gonna hang out all day today and she didn't show."

"Oh, Gar…I'm sure she's just running a little late. It's no big deal."

"She promised that Jaime was going to drop her off before school today."

"Before school? Jaime went to school around seven this morning."

"Oh…huh…I guess…I guess she just didn't want to come today." Garfield said sadly as he started to walk away.

Just before he was too far, the zeta tubes started up. Garfield turned with glee and hope it was Mirabella.

"_Recognized…Impulse: B-12_"

Garfield turned back around as Impulse rushed in.

"Hey Karen. Where's Garfield?" Impulse greeted.

"He just left for his room. Mirabella didn't show up today."

"Jaime just texted me from his math class. Mirabella wasn't home this morning either when he woke up."

Garfield overheard this and ran back over, grabbing Bart by the forearms.

"What happened to Mirabella?" He asked.

"I don't know, Gar. I wish I did. That's why Jaime sent me here. To find out what happened to her. He's just as worried as you and I are, but since he's stuck at school, he can't help right now."

"You two better tell Nightwing. I gotta head for my own classes before I'm late. Good luck and you find her, bring her home safe."

Then Karen left for her college classes and the two boys went to get Nightwing. Nightwing was in the living room, trying to relax from all the training he had been doing with the three girls over the past week or so, when Garfield and Impulse ran in.

"Nightwing! Emergency!" Garfield shouted.

Nightwing stood up, he was surprised that Garfield wasn't in the studio with Mirabella like he had been talking about since last night.

"Garfield? Where's Mirabella? I thought you two were hanging out for the day."

"That's the thing. Jaime texted me from his class a little while ago. Mirabella's been missing since this morning. She wasn't at home when Jaime got up and left for school." Bart explained.

"Has she picked up her phone?" Nightwing asked.

Garfield shook his head sadly as the Bart and Nightwing looked down at him.

"I've texted her twice and called her three times. It kept going to voice mail." Garfield replied.

"I might know where she is." Valentina said, overhearing everything.

"Valentina, get Aster. You four are going out to find Mirabella."


	8. A Deal With The Green Devil

Chapter Eight

Impulse, Blue Beetle, Beast Boy, Solara (Aster) and Valentina were on motorcycles, heading for the city, in search for their friend. Valentina only looked disappointed in herself. She was the only one without a secret identity. Aster noticed how her sister was, and moved closer.

"Valentina…Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, Ast…I mean—Solara. I guess I just wish I had a secret identity like you and everyone else. Don't get me wrong. I'm worried about Mira…I mean…Anima, but…"

"You'll find one, Val. I know you will. Right now…let's concentrate on finding Anima."

Valentina sighed heavily.

"Alright. Ah!"

Valentina screamed as she pulled over and climbed off her bike. Wobbling around, she threw her helmet off and wobbled over to the edge of the road, which dipped into a small hill.

"Guys, pull over! Something's wrong with Val!" Solara said into her communicator.

The guys turned around and stopped near Solara's bike, but Solara had gone down the hill to help her sister, who had fallen down the hill. The three guys ran down to help as well.

"What happened?" Beast Boy questioned.

"I don't know. She screamed, pulled over and then rolled down the hill."

Valentina groaned softly and sat up, holding her head.

"Val…How do you feel?"

"I think…I'm okay. Mirabella…Mirabella's…thinking."

"Are you psychic now?" Solara questioned.

"No…but…I felt her through the ground. The roots of plants told me what she's thinking of. That club…That club she always talked about."

"Green Bay? That's where she is?" Solara asked.

"That's what she's thinking of."

"You okay to drive?" Impulse asked.

"Yeah…I'll be okay." Valentina replied as she stood up.

"You gave us a scare back there." Blue said as he helped her up the hill.

"I guess…my powers are growing…stronger. I want to find Anima. I won't stop until I find her. She's been through enough as it is. She doesn't need any more sadness."

Valentina climbed onto her bike again, just like everyone else. As they started driving again, Impulse drove closer to Valentina.

"Hey…Val…"

"What's up, Impulse?"

"I think I have an idea for your secret identity…How's _Black Thorn_ sound?"

Valentina thought it over…It fit her personality, her powers, everything about her and who she wanted everyone to see her as. She smiled.

"I like it. Black Thorn it is then."

"Sweet…By the way, it was Blue Beetle's idea. I saw him writing it last night on a piece of paper before dinner. He doesn't know I told you."

After a while, the sub team had ridden into Ivy Town where it had turned into mid-afternoon. They pulled over in the town square to rest from the long ride.

"Now where do we go?" Garfield asked.

"We need to ride to the North-West part of town. Not the best part of town, either." Solara replied.

"Wait…you hear that?" Valentina asked.

The five listened closely…but no one heard anything.

"Val…I don't hear anything."

"Shush…_Rest now my children. For soon we'll away, into the calm and the quiet…_Solara, don't you hear it?"

"I'm afraid not."

"I can hear it. It's Mirabella's song." Valentina said before she continued to hum the tune slightly.

"Wait…I hear it." Garfield said.

"I don't hear a thing." Blue argued.

"_It is at a decibel you cannot hear, Jaime Reyes. Only ones that are so sensitive to certain decibels can hear the song._"

"So, you can hear it?" Blue whispered.

"_Yes…_"

"My scarab can hear it. He says it's coming from that building." Blue said as he pointed to a close, but distant, building that was boarded up.

"Let's go." Impulse said.

The five returned to their bikes and drove to the building. Getting to the worn building, it looked like the structure was in ruins and very unsafe to walk inside of.

"What do the scans say, Blue?" Solara asked.

"My scans show that the building is too unsafe to walk inside of." Blue reported.

"Are you sure you heard the song from here?" Impulse asked.

"Positive. It heard the song from here." Valentina replied.

"How did you-"

"Something I've been meaning to tell you. I can hear your scarab talk. I know no else can, well, besides you."

"We can discuss that back at the Cave…with Nightwing. Look." Solara said before pointing to the side of the building.

A wolf cub, slightly bigger than Stardust, with brown fur and white paws walked out into the light.

"Huh? A wolf?" Impulse questioned.

Garfield took off his helmet, setting it on the handle bars of his bike, and walked over. The wolf cub stepped back, in terror of Garfield being taller than them.

"It's okay…I won't hurt you."

The wolf cub whimpered slightly before going under Garfield and running past the others. It disappeared into town.

"Follow that wolf!" Valentina shouted as she revered after the cub.

Everyone else followed close behind. After a while, the cub was chased into a club. The team stopped and looked at the sign.

"Green Bay Teen Club. That wolf cub **must **know where Mirabella is. Come on!" Garfield said as he ran ahead.

"Wait, Beast Boy!"

Beast Boy stopped, just before he entered the club, and turned around.

"What's wrong? Mirabella could be inside!"

"I know Beast Boy…But the music in there induces dancing. You listen to the music, you **have **to dance. I don't know why, but every time Mirabella and I went inside we danced until we collapsed." Valentina explained.

"So, how are we supposed to go inside without having to be induced by the music?" Blue asked as the armor disappeared.

"I don't…"

"Earplugs." Aster interrupted.

"Earplugs? That's crash, but I don't carry those." Impulse replied.

"My scarab can make some for me." Jaime said.

"I think I have some ear buds in my bag." Solara said as she dug around her messenger bag. "Oh…here we go. I have four ear buds."

"Prefect, Solara!" Valentina said as she grabbed a pair from her sister.

After everyone had plugged in the buds, and Jaime's scarab had made some in his ears, Beast Boy changed into a small mouse and hid inside Valentina's sweater. They walked inside to blaring music and flashing colorful lights.

"Now to find that wolf cub. Where we find it, we'll find Mirabella. And whatever you do, do not take out your plugs." Valentina said.

After they all nodded in agreement, they spread out over the dance floor, searching for the cub. They were quickly blocked however, by the hostess of the club, a curvaceous blonde wearing a tight red dress.

"Hello kids! Welcome to the Green Bay Teen Club! Sorry, but you can't wear earplugs here. You wouldn't want to hurt the D.J's feelings would you?"

She tried to take all of the team's earplugs, but Impulse evaded her and replaced his comrade's earplugs a little too fast to be considered human.

"Sorry lady, but we'll keep them."

"No, I'm sorry. For you…GET THEM IVY!"

The woman flipped backwards, and avoided the massive green vines that ensnared the group, including Beast Boy, who had changed back. She then pressed a gem on her bracelet and transformed into her usual self, Harley Quinn. From behind a velvet green curtain, stepped Poison Ivy holding two wolf cubs, Stardust and the very wolf that had led the team into the trap. The other dancers on the floor completely ignored the unusual happenings, which the entire team found eerie.

"Now…I'll just take those pesky little ear buds so you can listen to the music." Harley said as she took the ear buds.

"Thank you, Harley."

"No problem, Red. Here." Harley said as Ivy crushed the ear buds in a vine.

The team stopped struggling unwilling and looked at each other.

"What's…happening to us?" Jaime asked.

"The music's…taking over." Solara answered.

The vines disappeared and the teens started to walk over to the dance floor.

"Try…to fight it…" Valentina grunted.

Everyone tried but nothing worked. They spread out and _Valentine's Dance Tango _(Heard from **Another Cinderella Story** which we do not own either) came on and Valentina started dancing with Jaime.

"Ugh…I can't stop."

"Neither can I." Jaime said.

"Are you really even trying?"

Then Valentina wrapped one leg around one of Jaime's and her other leg was lifted straight up. After a minute, she came back down and started dancing again.

"I didn't know you could bend like that."

"Uh…Yeah. I took a Salsa/Tango/Conga class about a year ago." Valentina admitted with slight embarrassment appearing on her face.

Jaime leaned in next to Valentina's ear.

"You're really good." He whispered.

Valentina blushed even more. Then the music stopped and she pushed away. Just before the next song started, Valentina took some cotton from a plant she made and plugged it into her ears. Then Jaime's, making them stop dancing.

"Whew…Thanks."

"No problem. Take some cotton and put it in the team's ears. Then we'll find Harley and that other woman."

"Poison Ivy!"

"What's?"

"That woman's name is Poison Ivy!"

"Good to know. Now, go. We'll meet…" Valentina looked around and pointed by some stairs. "Over there! Those stairs lead upstairs where those two should be! We'll meet over there!"

"Got it!" Just before Valentina disappeared, Jaime grabbed her hand. She looked back at him. "Be careful, Val."

Val walked over and gently kissed Jaime's cheek.

"You too, Blue. And…call me Black Thorn when we're on the job."

Then she disappeared into the thick crowd of teens. Blue touched his cheek, where Valentina's lips just touched, and then shook his head, snapping from his daydream. Valentina had found Beast Boy, mindlessly dancing.

"Oh no, the music's started to seeped in…" Valentina took the cotton she had and plugged it into Beast Boy's ears.

After a moment, he stopped and shook his head.

"Ow…my head."

"Beast Boy? Are you alright?"

He looked up at Valentina.

"Valentina? Yeah…I think I'm okay. What happened?"

"The music started to seep into your brain. I plugged your ears with cotton. Come on. We have to meet the others."

With Jaime, he was trying to push through the crowd, but the teens seemed to be gathered in a pack for a reason. After a while, he found out what it was. Impulse and Aster were dancing together to a face paced song. Their eyes had turned a blank white, the music seeping in deeper into their brains.

"Impulse! Solara!" He called, but they didn't respond.

Jaime tried to push a couple kids over, but they just pushed him back.

"_The music is the inducing mechanism of this unusual behavior. We must stop the music._" The scarab said as it returned the armor to Jaime.

"Sonic cannon on the DJ it is then." Blue said as he formed the cannon on his hand.

He flew into the air and blasted the DJ station, only to have the sonics bounce back at him.

"Well…that didn't work."

"_Scans indicate that a force shield of some kind surrounds the DJ's station_."

"Now you tell me." Blue said with extreme annoyingness.

Then Blue stood back up, and faced toward his dancing friends.

"Sorry about this you guys. But I don't know how to make you stop from here."

Then Blue blasted Impulse and Aster with some sonics, causing them to scream in pain and fall to their knees. Finally getting through the crowd, Blue stuck the cotton into Solara and Impulse's ears, causing their eyes to return to normal.

"Oh…what happened?" Solara asked.

"The music seemed to take control almost completely."

"What?!" Impulse shouted.

Blue shook his head and pulled the two over to the stairs to meet Black Thorn and Beast Boy.

"I found them. But I had to use some sonics on them, just slight ones."

"They should be fine, right? Now…come on. We have to find Mirabella and Stardust."

"And that other wolf cub, Beast Boy. We can't just leave it alone with Harley and Ivy." Valentina reminded.

"And stop the music so everyone can leave." Solara added.

The guys nodded in agreement and ran up the stairs. Inside a sound proof room that over looked the dance floor, Ivy and Harley weren't paying attention to realize the team was no longer under their control. They didn't know until the door to their sound proof room was blasted to bits, a few still hanging off the hinges.

"Ugh…I thought you said the music would induce them!" Harley shouted at her partner.

"It's supposed to!" Ivy replied in shock.

"Too bad you didn't think about cotton as earplugs!" Black Thorn said.

"And too bad you don't know much about me!" Harley said as she pulled out a grenade launcher from behind the table the two villainesses were sitting at.

She pointed it at the crowd of teens below.

"Don't take another step or those poor dancers…will get it."

The wolf cub that they followed to the club had snuck out of the glass box it was trapped in and freed Stardust too. They rubbed necks and then bit Harley and Ivy's ankles, causing them to scream in pain. Ivy took a vine and wrapped it around the unknown wolf cub, throwing it into the wall across the room, knocking it out.

"Ow…Ow…Ow! Red, get this mutt off of me!"

"Stardust is no mutt!" Solara shouted as she moved in front of everyone. "Cover your eyes!"

Solara held up her hands and a bright light blasted toward Harley and Ivy. After a minute, the light had disappeared and everyone looked. The two had been thrown against the wall, but it wasn't enough to keep Harley down. She jumped back up and, grenade launcher in hand, kicked out the glass of the room and jumped below. Everyone ran after her, except for Black Thorn. She found her feet were suddenly tied together by vines that were out of her control. As she tried to call for help, the vines pulled her into a dark underground room and was now locked inside with Ivy.

"Now we can talk…" Ivy said in the darkness.

"Ivy!" Black Thorn hissed.

She stepped into the light, where Black Thorn had been standing.

"Stop little one. I don't want to fight…I want to make you a deal."

"No! I'll never help you!" Black Thorn shouted as she tried to attack, but the vines missed ivy as she disappeared into the darkness again.

"This is a deal that's not for my sake…but for yours."

"What?"

"I want to help you. Our powers are the same, misunderstood, and dangerous even to ourselves."

"But…"

Ivy came from behind and placed a finger over Valentina's lips.

"Hush…I'm offering you an apprenticeship. You _**need **_a teacher, a mentor, to help you understand your powers. Alone, a flower like you could wilt. But…with me…you could grow into something beautiful. To have guidance."

Valentina whipped around and shot vines around Ivy.

"To do **evil**!"

"It isn't as bad as you'd think. Together, we could be so much more…and who knows…Black Thorn could be a great name for a villain."

Valentina relaxed, the vines dropping around Ivy. She thought about this offer, about how Blue never had a mentor, but the chance to have one was right there in front of her.

"But—But my sisters…I could never…leave them…"

"You wouldn't have too, dearie. They could come with you."

Valentina shook her head in clarity.

"No! You're evil!"

Valentina shot vines at Ivy again, but they wilted to nothing as Ivy held out a hand.

"What the-?"

"You see? I could help you. I could help all three—I mean four—of you with your powers."

"Help us do nothing but evil!"

"Am I truly evil, sweet heart?"

"A—Ar—Aren't you?"

"All I try to do is save the environment from all that yucky pollution. Is that really so evil?"

"I—I guess you aren't _truly _evil."

"You see? And you and your sisters, you're pieces of the Earth."

"How so?"

"Solara is the sun the Earth needs to grow, you are the flora of the Earth, and Anima…she can control the true living beings of this planet. The fauna…"

"Together…we're…Earth?"

"Oh, yes…" Ivy walked up to Valentina and put a hand gently under her chin. "You are so special. And with my guidance, you could control your powers."

Ivy walked behind Valentina, resting her hands on her shoulders.

"To do what, exactly?"

"To save what your powers control. Think about it Black Thorn. The sun needs to shine. What good is it if it is stuck inside a Cave all day?"

"None…I guess."

"Well, isn't that what the League is doing to Solara? And a plant in a glass box can't grow, can it?"

"I guess not. But I'm not in a glass box."

"But isn't that how you feel? Being stuck inside all day long to do nothing at all?"

"M—Maybe…"

"And does a wolf like to be kept in a pen? Think about Black Thorn, with me, you four could rule."

Valentina looked at her feet before raising her hands so she could look at them. Back with the others, they were just cuffing Harley and all the teens were leaving.

"Huh? Where's Black Thorn?" Impulse asked.

"Who?" Solara asked.

"Val…That's her mission name, Black Thorn. Where is she?"

"Ivy must've grabbed her." Beast Boy replied.

"We have to save her! Come on!" Blue said as he grabbed Solara and flew up to the room they followed Harley out of.

As they got up there, Mirabella was in the place of the unknown wolf cub and was just waking up. Back with Valentina, she was thinking too hard. That and Ivy had made a smoke from a seed attack her.

"I'm sorry. Is the smoke making it hard to think?"

Valentina was holding her head and twisting and turning, trying to rid her sudden hate over the League and the painful confusion in her head.

"I was saving that for the Blue Beetle fellow, but I accidently stepped on it."

"No…Blue…" Black Thorn groaned.

"Ivy!" Blue jumped down by himself, standing between Ivy and Thorn. "Leave her be, Ivy!"

Before he could react, Ivy threw a seed at Blue, and tree bark started to cover his body.

"I was just leaving…Remember, dear, you still have that offer." Ivy said before escaping.

"Thorn…Help me…I—I can't move…" Blue grunted through the thick growing bark.

Valentina's headache had disappeared and she stood up, slightly dizzy. After a minute, she realized what was going on and ran over to help her friend.

"Hold on, Blue! I'll get you out!" Valentina shouted as she tried to break away the bark, tears filling her eyes.

She wrestled the vines off Blue and used her powers to neutralize the seed's effect.

"You okay?" Valentina asked as she helped Blue stand up.

"I'm fine. My armor protected me."

"Good…"

Blue raised her head so she was looking at him. He wiped a tear away.

"Are…**you **okay, Valentina? You look upset…"

"I'm okay…" Valentina wiped the tears away. "…really…it's nothing."

"_She lies Jaime Reyes. Do not trust her._" Blue abruptly heard the scarab say, Valentina didn't pay attention to this.

"What?!"

"What is it, Blue?"

"I…I thought…I heard Anima yell upstairs."

"What are you waiting for then?" Valentina questioned quickly.

Blue flew Black Thorn upstairs to find the group protecting Anima from Harley Quinn. Blue was surprised he was right about Anima yelling. Valentina rushed over to her little sister and hugged her close.

"Are you okay, Anima?"

"Yeah…" She replied. "Harley…Harley just…"

"Just what?" Black Thorn asked.

"Let's just say she tried to take Anima hostage in the wrong way." Beast Boy replied, causing Anima to shoot him an appreciated look.

"What do you…?" Thorn started.

"Don't ask. Por favor, hermana…" Anima replied as she curled into her knees and Beast Boy's chest.

Valentina nodded in understandment. Harley struggled in the background, tied up again.

"When Mr. J hears about this, he'll clobber you little…"

Blue interrupted her by shooting a form of duct tape from his suit, closing Harley's mouth.

"Well…that's a handy feature." Impulse pointed.

"Yeah…Keep it in mind, motor mouth." Blue joked.

Everyone laughed and took Harley to the Arkham Asylum. But Valentina was still worried about the deal Ivy had offered her.


	9. Bonds and Ties

Chapter Nine

_**March 4**_

Mirabella was still in the sick bay, resting after the couple days ago mission, Stardust and Garfield looking over her. Valentina had hardly ever come out of her room and Aster…Well, Aster was being the strong one for them. She was helping M'Gann in the kitchen to keep her mind occupied, helping in the sick bay, and Valentina in her room.

"Aster…could you please get…two eggs from the fridge?" M'Gann asked as she looked at the instructions for what they were baking.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure thing, M'Gann."

La'Gann was watching them, worried about Aster's distant thinking as of late. He knew why, it just worried him, like an older brother for his sister would.

"Aster, would you like to take a break? I can take over if you want."

"Huh? Oh, no thanks, La'Gann. I'm okay."

"You seem…distant Aster. Are you sure you're alright?" La'Gann argued.

"Well, of course I'm not, La'Gann! Dr. Carr and his wife were hurt because of us! One of my sisters is hurt in the sick bay; the other one has stuck herself in our room! Mirabella's powers turn her into a wolf cub! I had to go chase her all over Ivy Town to find her only to run into these…Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn characters! The only reason the four of us met and are together is because we were captured about ten and a half months ago! I told them I would take care of them! I told them we would be sisters though anything. I just…wish I was a better sister for them…"

As Aster was shouting, the team that was there (Wonder girl, Bumble Bee, Super boy, and Mal) had come out to see what was going on. After a while, Aster fell on her knees and started to cry into her hands. Cassie (Wonder girl) flew over and kneeled next to her friend. She wrapped her arms around her gently, considering her strength, and let Aster cry.

"It's okay, Aster…We're here for you. You don't have to do it alone anymore." Cassie whispered into Aster's ear.

Aster cried harder in Cassie's arms. Bart, who was staying at his great grandparents' house, zetaed in just as Cassie was trying to help Aster. He walked into the living room/kitchen area, eating a small bag of chips.

"Hey, everyone. What's going on?" Bart asked with his mouth half full.

Karen walked over and set a hand on Bart's shoulder.

"Aster's having a hard time with everything going on, Bart." Karen replied in a soothing voice.

Bart almost choked on his chips as this news hit him. He never told anyone (except Garfield, Blue Beetle, Valentina, and Nightwing) he actually loved Aster. But his feelings showed at that moment Karen told him something was wrong with Aster.

"Where is she?" He asked quickly as he tried to look behind Karen.

"Cassie's got her. Are you alright?"

"Uh…Karen…I haven't actually told a lot of people, but…" He looked behind Karen, no one was paying attention.

"But…?"

"But…I think…I **like**…Aster."

"You love Aster?"

"Hey, hey, hey...I never said **love**, I said like…But yes."

"Maybe you should talk to her…Help her. Don't afraid to talk to her, Bart."

"I'm not! I…just don't know what I would say to her."

"Try and…get her to feel like she belongs here. Right now…I think she feels like bad luck. And under a **lot **of stress."

"Alright…I'll try."

Bart took a deep breath and walked around everyone to Aster. He saw her on the floor, crying in Cassie's arms and thought his heart had just broken into nothing but dust. Bart gulped hard and walked over, kneeling next to Aster. He rested a hand on her shoulder and she looked at him. Aster turned away and cried into Cassie's shoulder. Cassie lifted Aster off and stroked her hair. Aster looked at everyone and looked down at the floor.

"I'm sorry, everyone." She said as guilt engulfed every word.

"Don't be sorry, Aster. You're going through a hard time. You're allowed to cry here. We won't judge." M'Gann replied.

Aster sniffled and wiped her tears.

"Really?"

'Of course not. We'll all a family. We watch out for each other. And we help you when you're crying." Bart replied.

Aster sniffled again.

"Thank you." Everyone smiled, happy Aster felt better. Just before La'Gann disappeared, "La'Gann…I'm sorry about yelling at you before."

La'Gann smiled as his friend.

"It's alright, Aster. I didn't take it personally." He replied before walking away.

As everyone walked away, Karen walked over to Bart and leaned in his ear.

"Talk to her in the conference room down the hall. No one will bother you there." She whispered.

After everyone had disappeared, except M'Gann and Bart, Aster walked over to the couch. Just before she was going to sit down, Aster felt someone touch her hand gently. She turned to see Bart holding her hand in one of his.

"Hey…"

"Hey, Aster…" He gulped, not sure what to say to her.

There was a long silence between them as they stood there. Then Aster shrugged, pulled her hair behind her ears and tried to sit down again.

"Wait…Don't sit down!"

Aster stood straight up as she looked at him in confusion. Bart, after looking around, pulled Aster, her forcibly following him, to a room where there were two green seats (the one where Black Canary does therapy with the team). As they ran inside, the doors shut and Aster got scared. She pulled back on Bart's arm that was holding her hand and he went flying backward on the ground.

"What are you doing, Bart?!" Anger, confusion, and fear drifted over her gently as she shouted at Bart.

He stood up and took a deep breath, and then gulped. Bart kept his eyes closed because he was afraid to look Aster in the eye, in fear he might do something he didn't want to just yet.

"Aster…I—I—I wanted to talk to you."

Aster's mixed emotions felt flat as she pushed her brown hair behind her ears again.

"About what?" She asked in wonder.

"Actually…I wanted to listen…to you." Aster put one hand on her hip, while the other one slumped at her side, and shot him a confused look. Bart looked down at his feet and rubbed his arm up and down in nervousness. "I know how you've been under a lot of stress lately, becoming part of the team and taking care of your sisters and everything. And the mode scene you just had out in the kitchen didn't seem to help too much. So…I thought…I could…listen to what you have to say."

Aster relaxed a little, surprised. No one, not even her sisters, wanted to hear what Aster wanted to say. They never let her complain or cry or relax even a little. Not that she wanted to, knowing they were on the run. She smiled softly and her light purple eyes softened. Aster nodded.

"Do you really want to listen to me?" Aster questioned.

Bart looked up at her, as he was a little shorter than Aster, and smiled.

"Of course I do. I will always listen to you, Aster."

Aster sighed in happiness.

"Alright then. Let's sit down."

The two sat down in the green chairs, facing each other, and Aster started. She confessed everything about what was bothering her to Bart. And Bart listened closely to every detail Aster spat out to him.

He found out that Aster's family abused her and treated as a slave, so she ran from them one night. The next morning she was captured by some strange people she was horrified by from the first moment she saw them. Then Aster found out about the powers they gave her, or forced her to have, and she busted out. She was only able to save her two sisters though, since the alarm had gone off. That's when they found Stardust and the four had been together for months. They were homeless and broke and hungry. They stole food from the farmer's market every week to survive. That was until something blasted them with a ringing sound and they were knocked out. That's when the team found the four of them. This took hours for Aster to explain. After a while, the two started laughing about what the silly things Mirabella would do to make Valentina and herself laugh and cheer them up. Aster sighed heavily in relief. She felt peaceful for the first time in a long time. She couldn't believe it.

"Bart?"

"Yeah, Aster?" He questioned.

"Thank you."

"For what?" He sat up from lying across the seat.

"For…listening. No one's ever what to hear me talk before and for the first time…I feel relaxed and not so stressed out. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Aster was about to say something else, but she didn't. She kept it back in her head, in fear that Bart could not agree with her.

"_I think I love you…_" She thought to herself.

_**March 10**_

Valentina walked into the kitchen and sat at the counter. She watched as M'Gann mixed some ingredients in a bowl for a long moment.

"Hey, M'Gann…Can I talk you?" Valentina finally asked.

"Sure. What's bothering you, Val?" M'Gann replied.

"I'm worried…about my powers."

"Your powers?" M'Gann placed the bowl on the counter and sat down across from Valentina. "Why are you worried about your powers?"

"I don't know where they came from, I don't have a mentor to help me, and I don't know if I'm too strong or too weak."

"Valentina…" M'Gann started for Valentina's hands, but she pulled away.

"Hold on…It gets worse." Valentina said sadly.

"Worse?"

Then Valentina told M'Gann about the offer Poison Ivy had given her, to become her pupil and learn about her powers, and that she wouldn't have to leave her sisters behind because Poison Ivy would have liked for them to come as well.

"I looked up Poison Ivy in the files in the database…Did you know she's a mom?"

"What?" M'Gann questioned in total surprise.

"I know!...Do you think I could be…you know…her…" Valentina trailed off, not wanting to finish her question.

"What? No…"

"No?"

"No, Valentina."

"Do you really think so?"

"Yes…Oh, of course, Valentina. Oh, my goodness. You are **nothing **like Ivy."

"…Except my powers…" Valentina mumbled clearly.

"That's only a coincidence, Valentina. Don't worry about it. You are nothing like Ivy and you could never be her daughter. Besides, even you were her daughter, you're still apart of this team and you're a hero, not a villain."

"But **Black Thorn** sounds like a good villain name…"

"Of course, but…There's also Black Canary and she's a hero."

"Good point. Thanks M'Gann!" Valentina said before going around the counter and hugging Megan. "You're the best." She whispered loud enough for M'Gann to hear.

"Oh, anytime, Valentina."

_**March 11: **_

Aster was walking slowly inside of the cave when she heard an unnatural sound. She became extremely tense and stalked the sound until she reached the source of the sound. When she saw what was truly causing it, however, she burst into laughter. Impulse heard her laughing and came to investigate.

"Hey Aster, what's…?"

Then he saw what was going on that made Aster laugh.

"Oh, mode! No…!"

Little Stardust was eating his ex-secret stash of his favorite chips. There were already five empty bags beside the cub and she was shaking and eating quickly. Mirabella rushed in.

"Star! Stop! That's people food! You know what sugar does to you!"

The team however was about to find out why Stardust should **never **have sugar. The wolf cub looked up; looking slightly crazed, and tore off into the hall. Bouncing off walls, team members, furniture, a yipping Stardust terrorized the team for _**two hours**_. The team couldn't catch her, not even Impulse could catch the clever, and sugar high, wolf cub. The zeta-tubes whirled as two people entered the cave. Stardust attacked with a tongue licking, almost as fast as Impulse could talk. The team followed her and found her licking Wally's face with Artemis trying to contain her.

"Stardust! Down girl!" Mirabella shouted.

Stardust yipped consistently, but she did stop her all out cleaning of Wally's face. M'Gann flew over and hugged her old friends.

"Hello Megan!" Wally teased.

"Hey, Wally! Hi, Artemis!"

The two then noticed the new additions to the team.

"New teammates?" Artemis asked.

"This is Aster, Valentina, Mirabella and Stardust. We found them in January." Nightwing replied.

"Sorry about Stardust. She ate a lot of sugar." Mirabella apologized.

"It's fine. We're used to Wolf." Artemis said.

Wolf walked over at that moment and allowed Mirabella to ride on his back.

"Dang!" Wally bursted. "He never let us do that!"

"He just likes me better." Mirabella joked.

"Hey! He's still my pet, guys." Conner reminded.

Suddenly everyone was aware of the quiet that had ensued. When they looked, Stardust had passed out.

"Her sugar rush is officially over." Wally announced.

"Aww! She's all worn out." Artemis said as she scooped the tuckered out pup into her arms.

"Yes, from terrorizing us for **two hours.**" Nightwing added.

"You couldn't catch her?" Wally questioned.

"No, I couldn't. I used traps, nets and, at one point, a butterfly net, but nothing worked."

"Ha! I bet Batman would be so mad that his best protégé couldn't catch a puppy." Artemis said.

"Hey!" Robin shouted.

"I kid. I kid." She began, only to have Wally add…

"FLASH!"

Everyone laughed, and Wally and Artemis stayed for the whole day, mostly because Mirabella didn't want them to go. They, then, stayed the night, and Mirabella fell fast asleep in Artemis' lap.

"Do you think that the Light's partner has something to do with the girls' past?" Wally asked.

Nightwing nodded from his perch on the couch.

"Mirabella kept referring to someone named Black Beetle…"

"Think there's a connection?" Artemis asked.

"I don't know for certain, but I can't exactly pry."

"Still an open wound for them, huh?" Wally said. "Hey, remember when you were thirteen and you referred to anything really good as _**aster**_?"

"Yes. Ironic how one of the girls' name is Aster." Artemis agreed before she remembered when she met a ghost girl named "Secret" who was murdered by her brother who had been consumed with the idea to become pure evil.

Later, the next morning, the speaker overhead came on, which woke up the team and guests.

"Anima and Stardust, report to the command room immediately."

Mirabella got up groggily and rose, Stardust by her side.

"I have to go now, but it was really nice to meet you guys." She said to Artemis and Wally, still waking up.

She then rushed out to change and report. Entering the command room, Mirabella saw that her sisters were waiting with Nightwing for her to arrive.

Valentina was wearing her new **Black Thorn** uniform: A French braid, deep green skirt, a black top, a thorny belt, black knee high boots, black leggings, black gloves, and a deep green and black mask.

Aster was similarly wearing her **Solara** uniform; a white dress, red leggings, white combat boots, a golden belt, a gold headband, and a shimmery red mask.

Mirabella looked almost as excellent, if not better, in her "Anima" uniform with a brown mask and silver belt.

"Sorry I'm late. Stardust tried to steal my mask."

"It's fine. You have a mission." Nightwing replied.

"Ready and willing!" Anima shouted.

Nightwing grinned gently, happy to see Anima in a good mood for a mission, before continuing the debrief.

"Alright then. First mission alone for you girls."

"What'cha got, boss?" Black Thorn questioned with enthusiasm lacing her voice.

"Cheshire's been spotted in various areas all over Europe and Asia, mainly at three different labs. Tai Pei, London, and Ba Ria (Vietnam). Each of you will be sent to a different lab to investigate and report back."

Anima's excitement faded.

"We don't get to fight or anything?" She questioned.

"Not yet. You still need training before you can go and fight the bad guys full on, Anima."

"Oh…alright, Nightwing." Anima pouted.

Solara patted her on the shoulder with a soft smile.

"Good. Anima, you and Stardust will take the Tai Pei laboratory."

"Right!"

"Black Thorn? Take the lab in London."

"British is a natural accent for me." She replied in a British accent.

"And, Solara, you take the Ba Ria lab."

"Talk about spreading light in dark places." Solara mumbled to herself.

An hour later, the girls had been hard at work digging through the trashed and destroyed laboratories. Anima hacked into five computers and found the software was useless to the team.

"Find anything, Stardust?" Anima questioned her friend, which was returned with a small bark. "Yeah, me neither." Anima said as she climbed off the chair.

"Well, I certainly found something." An unfamiliar female voice said.

Anima looked from her pile of wires and saw Cheshire in the doorway, a sai in one hand.

"You—You—You're Cheshire…" Anima gulped.

"Oh, you know my name. How cute. Too bad I have to kill you." Cheshire said as she walked over to Anima.

Anima was the ground and scared of the person that was standing above her. Then she remembered something.

"_Whenever you're scared, Mirabella, just sing your song and everything will be alright. Nothing can ever hurt you._" Aster, in her memory, said.

Anima closed her eyes and quietly started to sing _**Alice **__by Avril Lavigne_. Cheshire relaxed and remembered Artemis, her sister. The room they used to share as kids with their Alice in Wonderland poster on Artemis' wall. Anima looked up at Cheshire, lost in thought of her childhood. Anima moved and, grabbing Stardust in her arms, ran out the door before Cheshire snapped back and realized Anima had escaped.

"Anima to Black Thorn and Solara: Do you read me?"

"_Anima? What's wrong? Did you find something?_" Black Thorn questioned over the communicator.

"If you mean that Cheshire's here and trying to kill me, then yeah. Yeah, I found something alright!"

"_Hold on, Anima. We're on our way!_" Solara said.

"Hurry!" Anima said.

She hid in some bushes before Cheshire could see her hide. Anima held Stardust close and held her hand over Star's snout, to keep her quiet.

"Nightwing was right. I do need training. We can't fight Cheshire alone." Anima whispered. Then she noticed some rope, rocks and sticks next to her. "Or…maybe we can."

A few moments later, Cheshire was looking around, trying to spot Anima and Stardust. Then Stardust fell out of some bushes, Cheshire noticing.

"Oh, there's the annoying little puppy. Stay right there, you little noise maker." Cheshire said as she got a dart ready to fire.

Just as she was going to fire the dart at Star, a rock came flying out the bushes and hit Cheshire in the head, knocking her over.

"What the heck? A rock?"

Then three more rocks flew out and trampled Cheshire.

"That may slow me down, you little pest, but it won't **keep** me down."

"Maybe not, but I got something better." Anima's voice echoed from the trees.

"And what's that? A lint ball?"

"Nope…My training!"

Then Anima jumped from a tree behind Cheshire and kicked her over. Anima cartwheeled backward as Cheshire jumped back to her feet. Cheshire threw a sai at Anima and it just grazed her arm, hitting the tree behind her. Then Anima countered by pulling out a small silver marble from her belt. She put it in the handmade sling shot and she pulled back, ready to fire, just as Cheshire was walking toward her.

"Stop! I'll let go!"

"What is that little thing? A marble? That's as useless as the rocks—Ah!"

Anima had let go of the rope and the marble exploded next to Cheshire, missing the actual target of in front of her, and threw Cheshire to the ground. Soon she and Anima were shrouded by thick smoke.

"You can't hide forever, little girl! You might as well save me the trouble of finding you and come out!" Cheshire shouted as she started to stand up.

The next thing she knew, Cheshire was pulled to the ground. Looking, Cheshire's feet were tangled in thick, thorny vines.

"Very clever, kid! But you have animal powers, not plant! And your sisters are far away from here!"

"You sure about that, Cheshire?" Black Thorn's voice questioned from the smoke.

Then Anima, Stardust, Black Thorn, and Solara stepped into view of Cheshire as the smoke started to clear.

"You were supposed to be alone. Oh well, next time…I'll get you." Cheshire said before pulling out a marble herself.

She threw the marble and a flash of light let her escape the vines and the girls. Anima sat down on the ground.

"Anima? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Solara. It's just…being a superhero is **hard**." She replied as she took a deep breath.

"You did well. You stalled Cheshire until we showed up."

"Yeah…but I was scared. She wanted to kill me."

Solara picked up Anima in her arms and turned to Black Thorn, who looked worried.

"Everything okay, Thorn?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Let's just get back to the Cave." Thorn replied.

Solara and Anima agreed. They boarded the Bio-ship and returned to the Cave to report to Nightwing.

"I told you **not** to engage in combat!" Nightwing shouted.

"I'm sorry, Nightwing." Anima said as M'Gann was patching up her arm.

"She didn't have a choice. Cheshire attacked and she was alone." Stardust growled lowly. "Except for Stardust." Solara added to her sentence.

"It's true. She was going to kill me and Stardust if I hadn't protected myself."

"Hold still, Mirabella." M'Gann said.

That's when Beast Boy rushed in, just hearing about Mirabella's mission.

"Is she okay? Is she okay?" He asked quickly.

"She'll live, Gar. Just a scratch." M'Gann chuckled. "There. You're all finished."

"Thanks, M'Gann."

"You're welcome. Just be careful. It's probably going to hurt a bit when you move it."

"Okay." Then Mirabella yawned slightly. "I'm tired."

That's when Stardust yawned too.

"And looks like you're not the only one." M'Gann joked.

"Alright. Go get some rest, Mirabella. We'll finish later." Nightwing sighed.

Anima nodded before climbing down from the bed. Just as Anima passed Nightwing, she turned around.

"You know…you were right about the training. I still need some work. But for someone without a lot of training, I think I did pretty well against Cheshire."

Then Anima disappeared for her room, Stardust on her heels.


	10. Looking Into The Solar Light

Chapter Ten

_**March 15**_

In the training area, Anima, Thorn, and Solara were training together. Anima was trying to take down a robot by herself, but was thrown to the ground.

"_Anima status: Fail_" The computer announced.

"Ow…That's smarts." Anima said as she sat up.

Nightwing walked over and held out his hand, which Anima took and pulled herself to her feet.

"You did well, Anima. Just try to keep your guard up next time."

"It's hard to. Those robots are super tough to beat!"

Nightwing just smiled and turned to the other two.

"Okay Solara, your turn."

She walked over to the center of the room. There were two robots, each next to her, at the edge of the area of training. Nightwing, at the controls, pressed the start button and the robots charged at Solara. Solara dodged the robots and, with a retractable short sword, sliced one robot in half. As she was getting ready to turn and attack the other one, the second robot charged from behind and knocked the sword out of Solara's hand, it getting stuck in the wall. The robot, while Solara was distracted by the fling of her sword, punched Solara in the face. Solara wobbled back, wiping her bleeding lip, and stood in a fighting position again. The robot walked over, and Solara tried to punch it, but the robot dodged and punched her in the stomach. Solara let out a small cry of pain and fell down into a small ball.

"_Solara status: Fail_" The computer echoed.

The training area shut down, and the three rushed over to Solara.

"Solara…are you okay?" Nightwing asked.

Solara didn't answer. She just sat up, shakily, and stood up. She wobbled side to side as she stood still.

"Aster?" Anima questioned.

"I'm…fine. Ugh." Solara bent over.

"Aster!" Thorn shouted as she caught her sister.

"You're hurt. You need to go to the med-ward."

"No, Nightwing. I'm…fine. Just a…bruise." Solara argued as she tried to stand up straight. "I can keep going."

"No…That's enough training for today. Session's over."

Solara snapped her head up at her leader.

"I can keep going!" She hissed.

"The session is over, Solara. You three are done for the day."

"I can keep going!" She said loudly, but not yelling.

That's when Impulse and Blue walked in.

"Solara…you need to rest. You took a pretty hard hit." Thorn said.

"No! I can keep going!"

"Why do you want to keep going harder than us?! You always have to be better than Mirabella and I! Why?!" Thorn shouted.

"You wanna know why, Thorn?! I keep going because you two could die if don't!" That's when Solara walked out, pushing by the boys.

Blue and Impulse walked over in worry. But before they could ask anything, Thorn walked over to the wall and punched it, leaving a thick dent in the stone and scaring Anima enough where she clung to Blue. Black Thorn stormed out of the training room and outside the Cave.

"What just happened?" Impulse asked.

Nightwing didn't answer; he just walked down the hall to Aster/Valentina's room and knocked. The door opened and he disappeared in the room. Then Blue noticed Anima shaking next to him.

"Anima, are-"

"Don't call me that! I hate that name! I hate it!" Mirabella screamed as she threw her mask on the ground.

"Hey…calm down, Mirabella." Blue soothed as he kneeled on the ground. "What happened?"

Mirabella just charged into his arms and cried.

"She okay?" Impulse asked.

"I don't know. I'm gonna bring her home. She needs some rest."

"I'm coming!" Impulse said.

"Hmm…Alright. My parents aren't home and Milargo is at her friend's this weekend."

The three walked into the house, regular clothing on, and Mirabella sat on the couch. Jaime and Bart walked into the kitchen. Mirabella took a throw pillow and buried her face in it to scream. The two boys rushed back in, hearing the muffled screaming, and rushed over to Mirabella.

"Mirabella!" Jaime shouted next to Mirabella.

Mirabella stopped screaming and removed the pillow, tears soaking her eyes and cheeks.

"Mirabella, what's wrong? We were just in the next room." Jaime said as he stroked her brown hair.

"That's not why I was screaming." She sniffled as she wiped away a tear.

Bart jumped over the back of the couch, landing on the couch next to Mirabella.

"What's wrong, Mirabella?" He asked gently.

Mirabella sniffled and took a deep breath in before answering.

"Ten months ago, I ran away from home because I didn't have any family left after dad died! Then I was captured by a Black Beetle, and a creepy woman experimented on me! For seven months, I was experimented on and then I had powers over animals and Stardust was always there! Then one night, Aster broke Valentina and me out and we escaped! We leaved on the streets for a month before the team found us!" Mirabella took another breath before continuing. "And then this morning in training, Aster got punched in the face and stomach, but she wanted to keep going even though she was in pain! Then Nightwing wanted her to go to the med-ward but Aster argued and took off for her room!"

Mirabella huffed deep breaths when she was done and the two boys just starred at her, trying to sink all the information in. Then Jaime shook his head.

"Mirabella…A _**Black **_Beetle? No way. Are you sure?"

"Muh-huh…He was huge! And…he…beat me up." Mirabella said as she sunk into the pillow again.

"Oh, man…Mirabella…Does Nightwing know?"

"I don't know." She said, muffled by the pillow.

"Okay…Uh…" Jaime stood up, trying to figure out what to do.

"I don't think we should tell him." Bart said.

"What? We have to! If we don't, and Nightwing finds out we **didn't **tell him right away, he'll kick us off the team!" Jaime shouted.

Mirabella, scared again, sunk into the pillow and shook. Jaime sighed heavily and walked over to Mirabella, bending down and resting a hand on her arm.

"I'm sorry for yelling, Mirabella. I didn't mean to scare you."

Mirabella just threw the pillow at Bart and landed herself into Jaime's arms and cried loudly and chokingly.

"It's okay, Mirabella…It's okay…" Jaime whispered.

"Yeah." Impulse comforted.

Bart just rested a hand on her shoulder and tried to help calm her down by being there. About an hour later, Jaime was able to sit in front of the couch, Mirabella resting her head on a pillow on his lap, and fast asleep with dried tears on her face. Bart was sitting on the couch, feet up, and watching as Jaime stroked Mirabella's messy brown hair. Then he bent forward, resting a hand on Jaime's shoulder.

"I can take her if you want to call Nightwing and tell him about this _Black Beetle_."

"No…I'm not going to tell him. I think Mirabella should do it herself…when she's ready too." Jaime replied.

Then Jaime's stomach growled lightly, hardly heard.

"I'll take her. Go get something to eat." Bart said hearing his friend's stomach growling.

Jaime was going to protest but his stomach hurt all of a sudden and agreed. Bart climbed down next to Jaime. He gently lifted Mirabella's head, still on the pillow, allowing Jaime to climb out and Bart to slip under. Before Jaime left for the kitchen, he covered Mirabella with a blanket from the back of the couch.

"I'll be right back, Bart…Thanks…" He said before disappearing into the next room.

Bart looked down at Mirabella sleeping. She was so peaceful, but so sad, like a broken angel. He started stroking her brown hair, gentle around the tangles she had gotten from training. After a few moments, he yawned and stretched his arms above his head. Bart hung his head back and slowly fell asleep. After twenty minutes, Jaime walked back in and saw the two sleeping. He covered Bart with a blanket too and laid himself on the couch for the night. The next morning, Mirabella woke and sat up.

"Huh? Hmm…" She yawned. "I must've fallen asleep." Then she looked at the clock on the wall. It read eight o'clock. "Oh no! I'm late for my date!" She whispered loudly to herself.

Mirabella got up on her feet and ran up the stairs to her room she shared with Jaime. She dug in her clothes and pulled out a light brown dress that drooped down her legs. She threw on some flats, a white jean jacket, and brushed her hair before throwing it up in a messy bun. Mirabella grabbed a purse and threw a cell, twenty dollars, and her communicator in it. Then she ran out of the room, sliding down the stair railings and out the house. Slamming the door behind her, the two boys were scared awake.

"What the heck was that?" Bart groaned awake.

"Don't…know. Sounded like…someone slammed the door?" Jaime questioned.

"Oh, mode! Mirabella's gone!" Bart shouted as he noticed the young girl wasn't asleep in his lap anymore.

"Where would she have gone?" Jaime questioned after shooting up into a sitting position.

"The Cave, to her sisters…or maybe out running?" Bart wondered.

"That's not like her…she normally would say something before she goes somewhere."

"Let's get going then! We can catch her if we hurry!" Bart said as he rushed in and out of the room, changing into his uniform.

After Blue put on his armor, they rushed to the nearest zeta-tube and only **just **missed Mirabella.

"Dang it! I hate slow mornings!" Impulse said, stomping his foot on the ground.

"It's not that bad." Blue argued.

"It is for me! I didn't eat, so I'm slow!" Impulse groaned.

Blue just rolled his eyes and then the two entered the zeta-tube, transporting to the Cave.

"_Recognized: Blue Beetle-B14…Impulse-B15_" The computer rang in a distorted voice.

As the two entered the Cave, they were horrified by what they saw. The entire Cave was trashed! The metal on the walls were torn off, the lights were flickering slightly, and wires that hung everywhere were sparking deadly.

"Nightwing?!" Blue called.

There was no response.

"Aster?! Solara?!" Impulse called.

A small rustle came from pile of metal. A piece of metal was tossed over and Wolf stood up.

"Wolf!" Blue said in surprise.

The two rushed over to their friend and saw what Wolf was protecting from the metal.

"Mirabella…" Blue said.

"And Stardust…" Impulse added before Stardust's body collapsed into gold dust. "What the-?"

"Good boy, Wolf. You protected Mirabella." Blue said as he petted Wolf's head.

"Ugh…" A distant groan echoed within the Cave.

Another piece of metal was being lifted, heavy as it was. Blue rushed over to help and found his teammates that lived there, except Valentina and Aster.

"Everyone alright?" Blue asked.

"I think so. Nightwing?" Super boy replied.

"Valentina…she was in her room…" He groaned, standing up.

Blue, in sudden worry, flew to Valentina's room, busting down the door.

"What about Aster?" Impulse questioned after flashing over.

Nightwing just glared at his teammate in sadness. Impulse stepped back a few, shaking his head in disbelief, and fell off his feet.

"No…Aster's…gone? She can't be gone…" He said in serious disbelief.

Robin walked over to his friend and sat next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Impulse…Aster's powers…They were unstable…She used them in training with us and…they imploded inside her. I'm…sorry…" He explained.

Impulse held his head as he sunk into his knees and groaned slightly. His eyes released a silent waterfall of tears. Blue walked back into the room, Valentina leaning on his shoulder.

"Oh…no…" She said quietly, covering her mouth in attempt of trying to keep a squeal of crying crawl from her voice. Then she saw her younger sister. "Mirabella!"

Wolf howled as he lay next to Mirabella's motionless body. Valentina pushed Blue away and ran over, Garfield in follow. Valentina looked around her, looking for something that was obviously not there.

"Where is Stardust…?" Valentina questioned. Wolf whimpered and placed a paw on a pile of gold dust. "No…No!"

"Valentina…What's wrong?" Garfield asked.

"Garfield…Mirabella's…She's dead." She replied as her voice cracked like fragile glass.

"What?! No!" Garfield shouted before falling on his hands and knees.

M'Gann floated over and held her younger brother as he started to cry.

"I am so sorry, Garfield."


	11. Love and Lost

Chapter Eleven

In complete shock and sadness, Valentina fell into the closet person's arms, which was Blue. His armor disappeared as he held Valentina closely.

"_She has no interest in you, Jaime Reyes. Why do you still comfort her in sadness?_" The scarab questioned.

"He—He's still my friend." Valentina sniffed before Jaime could reply.

Jaime looked down, in surprise, and then shook his head in memory.

"I almost forgot you can hear him too, Val."

"You're not alone either, Jaime." She said before crying into his navy blue sweater. After a while, she fell silent as she listened to his heartbeat.

Garfield's tears fell into the gold dust Stardust collapsed into a while ago. It started clumping and, after a while, the dust swirled and twisted into a ball. Mirabella's body glowed with the dust ball, nobody noticed either one.

Impulse's silent river was dripping into a large puddle of his own sadness, which seemed to move by itself in a weird way. Nobody noticed that the puddle piled on top of itself, forming a standing figure right next to Impulse.

After a while, all three forms were lying on the ground in solid figures, glowing brightly, which everyone looked at different one. Impulse's towered tears had reformed Aster to life once more. The dust ball had silently formed Stardust's body, allowing Mirabella to breath. The three girls groaned and started sitting up after the glowing had died down. Valentina pushed herself away from Jaime's chest, still holding onto his sweater, and was in total disbelief of what she saw in front of her.

"How—How is this even…possible?" Valentina questioned as she tried to decide which of sisters to hug first, and then simply grabbed them both in a crushing hug instead.

Garfield, who wasn't really paying attention, looked up and saw Mirabella sitting up. He leaned away from his older sister before crashing himself into Mirabella, hugging her like she was going to disappear any second.

"You're alive. I'm so glad you're alive…" He whispered to Mirabella.

Mirabella, in total and sudden surprise, finally realized what happened to her and hugged Garfield back trembling. Impulse tried to help Aster sit up, but it proved difficult considering the amount of pain she was in.

"You think you'll be okay, Aster?" He questioned.

Aster groaned and rubbed her head in pain.

"I think…so? What the heck happened here?" Aster finally replied as she scanned around herself and saw the trashed Cave.

"Your powers went critical. They imploded inside of you. How are you even alive right now?" Robin replied, still in shock like everyone else.

"I-I don't…don't know…did I…do this?"

"Yes, but it wasn't your fault and no one's angry. We are all just relieved to see you both alive again. "said Nightwing.

That's when Aster felt the cool droplets that were cascading onto her shoulder. Looking up, she was staring into the relieved eyes of Impulse.

"Impulse? Why are you crying?"

He promptly grabbed her in a tender embrace, so quickly she was barely aware of how she even got into his arms in the first place. It was like his speed had tripled only enough to ensnare her.

"I couldn't handle that. I still can't. I wouldn't forgive myself if I hadn't been able to tell you how I feel."

"Impulse…?"

But that was as far as she was able to get to in her question. She was passionately kissed on the lips by Impulse as he lightly squeezed her close. All of the feeling he had for her couldn't be expressed in just words, and now she knew them in just one kiss. When they had stopped their romantic exchange, she could see the stunning warmth in his eyes as he looked at her.

"I love you, Aster. I love you so much, and if you die on me like that again, I'll never be able to live it down. **Never** do that again, okay? I want to be there for you no matter what, and I want to protect you, and be that special person for you. You are the light in my life that I can't live without. Don't ever leave me, or the team, because I'll never, _**ever**_**, **be able to do what I do without you there. I love you, Aster."

"Impulse…"

"And no one expect a speech like that from me again. I don't think I'd have it in me to do it."

No one had ever said that for Aster, not even her own family until Impulse came, and it rendered her speechless as she was in udder shock. She didn't know what to do or say, and the silence that fell was so quiet it was painful.

"Aster?" Bart questioned worried.

"Impulse…Bart… I-I can't. I'm sorry."

Then she ran from the room, ran from the one person who ever said that he loved her, with her heart shattering like glass from the agony of her memories. She ran into her room and locked the door, then threw herself onto her bed and cried into her pillow. Impulse looked after her, staring at the place where she had fled, and felt his own heart break. Aster had been the first and only person he'd ever confessed to loving and she'd run from him like he was a monster. Jaime put a hand on his friends shoulder.

"It's okay, Bart. She'll come around. She's probably just thinks she doesn't deserve all of the care after her blow up. Give her some space."

But Bart didn't respond and Jaime wondered if his friend had even heard a word in his dread. Impulse pulled off his mask, and let it just fall limp around his shoulders. He wiped his eyes and just sat down on the couch, his crestfallen face almost blank. Cassie lightly came over and gave him a gentle hug.

"I'm sorry, Bart. We all knew you like Aster, but no one expected that. If you need a break, just go. We'll handle the cleanup."

Bart nodded mechanically, then zeta-tubed away, and ran farther and farther away from the Cave. Blue followed him to ensure that he'd be alright, with Valentina in follow as well. Meanwhile, Mirabella and Garfield were walking to her room so she could change out of her burned clothes, while Stardust followed and lightly nudged her mistress to keep her moving forward.

"Thanks, Star. Thanks for protecting me too."

The little wolf licked her, and jumped onto her lap when she sat onto her bed.

"I'm okay. I'm glad you're okay now too. "

In the main entrance of the Cave, Robin and Cassie worked to try to repair the damage to the Cave. Cassie noticed that Robin and Nightwing were struggling to move a heavy beam that had collapsed onto the floor.

"Need a hand?" She questioned jokingly.

"What gave that away? I thought we were doing just fine." Robin joked back.

Cassie laughed and moved the beam so Nightwing could weld it back into place while Robin moved onto sweeping the ash covered floors. He pulled out his scanner, installed into his suit, and scanned the room.

"What are you looking for?" Cassie questioned.

"Huh? Uh…Any strange substances within the Cave." Robin replied.

"Why?" Cassie found it curious how Robin and Nightwing always put solutions to all problems, even if they were accidental.

"Solara's powers weren't exactly unstable themselves, but if they came in contact with something…then…then…huh?"

"Huh? What's _huh_?"

"Smell that?"

Cassie smelled the air around her, and choked on the certain smell she just inhaled.

"Ugh! It smells like…ambergris and…pollen. What is that?" Cassie replied.

Nightwing climbed up and ripped into the air shaft. Looking inside, a small white object was stuck to the side of the vent wall. Climbing down, he held it out.

"What is that?" Cassie questioned as she looked over it.

"It's a seed spore. It _**was **_filled with explosive dust from a rare plant." Nightwing explained.

"You think someone was trying to sabotage for Aster's death, make it look like her powers were unstable?"

"Not just someone…Poison Ivy." Robin corrected.

"Poison Ivy? But how'd she find the Cave, let alone get inside?"

"I think I know who. A certain someone with the same powers." Nightwing replied.

"Thorn? No…No way. She wouldn't…Would she?"

"I don't know. She did act weird after her last mission. I'll talk to her about it." Nightwing said.

Garfield had left the room to let Mirabella change her clothes in peace. But it became a long time as Garfield just stood there. After he started to worry, he knocked on the door gently, no response. He entered carefully.

"Mirabella?" he asked tentatively. Looking around, Garfield found her on the ground, curled up into a ball. "Mirabella!" He spat before running over, kneeling behind her.

Leaning over her body, Garfield saw that Mirabella's eyes were shut tight, yet rivers still escaped the edges, and she was biting her lip in attempt to trap a loud crying echo out. Mirabella was also holding some sort of glass vase. Garfield laid down behind her, holding her closely to his body, and his lips lightly brushed across her hair, his breath gently blowing into her brownie colored hair.

"Everything alright?" He whispered.

A sharp exhale of a hard sob released from her lips and she turned in a crying fit. Garfield shut his eyes tightly, sitting up and pulled Mirabella into his arms, her screaming was muffled into his chest. Garfield held Mirabella tightly as she cried so hard that she started choking on her own tears. He had patted her back, getting the choking to stop. Mirabella sniffled and looked up at Garfield with her fragile crystal eyes.

"Th—Thank you…" She said quietly.

"You're welcome. You okay now?"

Mirabella nodded, almost lying as she looked back down. She adjusted herself against Gar, putting her head underneath his chin, and sitting sideways. Garfield put one hand on her head, stroking her hair gently, and the other hand intertwined with her hand, which she held to her heart.

"I miss daddy." She said as she looked down at the glass vase in her free hand. "I made this for him before…" She trailed off before singing smoothly. "_Deep in the meadow, under the willow. A bit of grass, a soft green pillow. Lay down your head, and close your eyes. When they open the sun will shine._"

"What was that?" Garfield questioned quietly.

"When I was sad and hanging around daddy's work, he would sing me that song."

"It's a nice song."

Mirabella looked up once more at Garfield before kissing him. He wanted to pull back but ended up pushing himself closer into the kiss. After a long moment, he pulled away gently, as if Mirabella was going to break as easily as her crystal eyes.

"I'm…I'm sorry. I don't know what just happened." Mirabella apologized as she sat up and turned away from Garfield in embarrassment.

Garfield turned her head gently toward his and pressed his forehead against hers.

"Mirabella…If you live to be a hundred, I would want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I would never have to live one day without you."

Mirabella, surprised, realized the saying from a novel from class they had read and smiled.

"Garfield…"

But she wasn't able to finish as Garfield kissed her. They were pushed into the wall behind Mirabella, **just **kissing.

_**March 15:**_

Aster had been sneaking around the Cave the past few days because of Bart hanging around. She was trying to avoid a weird conversation that was sure to happen between them. Her trust in people was as horrible as her life years ago. Her parents beat her, treated her like dirt, even her own little brother hated her. Aster always thought of herself as a bad person, someone nobody could ever like. So when she was mysteriously captured months ago, she thought of just dying, but couldn't. Then…being on the team, it was a way to start new…at least she had hoped to, but her past kept creeping back, haunting her even in her dreams. But then Impulse came out, told her he loved her, but she ran. Why did she run? Aster felt like an idiot afterward, crying for hours. Aster thought for days, trying to understand how someone like Impulse could **ever **love someone like Aster. She snuck out of her room, looking around and not seeing anyone, especially not Impulse. Aster strapped on her backpack, while wearing a denim strapless dress, white leggings and sneakers. Walking into the living room, she stopped dead.

"Yeah. We should catch a movie!" Valentina's voice echoed.

"You seriously think Bart could sit through that?" Jaime's argued.

"Hey, I could sit still through a movie!"

"I highly doubt it, ese."

"Oh, I got it!" Valentina clapped.

"What?" The two boys questioned when Valentina did not continue.

"What if you make a bet? If Bart sits through the movie completely, then…you owe him…five dollars or something like that."

"He doesn't have any money, Val. What if he loses?"

Valentina slipped a five dollar bill into Bart's hand without him noticing.

"Yeah he does. It's right there in his hand, Jaime."

"Huh? Where'd this come from?" Bart questioned.

Valentina winked at him before noticing her sister.

"Hey, Aster! Wanna hang with us? We were gonna go to El Paso to show Bart around!"

"Uh…No, thanks, Val. I got a package today I should put together."

"You mean your piano? You got it?!"

"Uh…yeah. I should probably go—"

"Aw, come on…please? It'd be fun…" Valentina sang.

Aster saw how fast Bart's emotion dropped as she tried to get out of hanging out with them. She sighed heavily, placing her head in her hand and smiling slightly.

"Fine, Val. I'll go with you three."

Bart's sadness disappeared as Aster agreed to go with them.

"Yes!" Valentina cheered.

"But…you know what I want first…"

"I know, I know…You're gonna wanna get a new CD. _Blah_! I'll buy you one later. Come on!"

Then the four left through the zeta tubes to El Paso, Texas.


	12. Black Thorn's Judgement Day

Chapter Twelve

The four beamed into the closest zeta-tube nearest to the El Paso Movie Theater. Bart surprised everyone with tickets to see _The Avengers_.

"Thanks for buying the tickets, Bart." Valentina said before noticing her sister not paying attention to anything going on.

"Ow!" Aster shouted as Valentina elbowed her. "Uh…Oh, yeah. Thanks for paying, Bart."

Valentina walked a few steps to the center of the room they were in. There were no doors or hallways leading to any screening rooms.

"Uh…where are all the theaters?" Valentina questioned.

"We have to go across the court yard to the screening rooms. Come on. Follow me." Jaime explained.

The four walked out into the court yard where there were flowers of different kinds and different colors.

"Wow…It's so beautiful out here." Valentina said as she sat on a stone bench.

"You really think so?" Jaime questioned.

"She's really just saying that because of her powers." Aster smirked.

"Am not!...Maybe a little. But look at these flowers! There's even some bamboo!" Valentina said as she started smelling some of the flowers.

"Milargo picked that out." Jaime replied.

Valentina turned around, realizing who did all of the planting she was standing in.

"This was all done…by you?"

"Actually, my family and I help with public gardening around the city. Last summer the theater wanted us to do something out here." Jaime explained as he felt embarrassment flow over his body.

"You and your family are very good, Jaime." Aster complimented.

"Thanks, Aster."

"Hey! Movie…starting in two minutes? Let's go!" Bart said as he rushed his friends.

"Oh, right. Come on. We'll miss it if we don't hurry." Jaime remembered.

Aster pulled Valentina from a rose bush she was smelling and followed the boys to the screening room. No one else was in the entire room. The four sat quietly through the movie of a different universe of superheroes until the army of other worlders made its way through the screen. (If you've ever seen the movie, you'll know what I mean…) Valentina and Aster looked away for several minutes, horrible memories rushing through their minds. After a long moment, Jaime noticed Valentina and Aster crying silent and looking away from the movie.

"Hey, everything alright?" He asked after leaning over to Valentina.

"I—I can't…I can't watch this anymore." Valentina replied rather loudly and rushed out.

Aster followed soon after and the boys looked at each other shortly before going out of the darkened room. The two boys looked around, but the girls had disappeared.

"Where'd they go?" Bart questioned.

"_Scanners show the two females had escaped to the courtyard._" The scarab said.

"Scarab says in the court yard. Come on…"

The two boys ran out to the court yard, Valentina and Aster sitting on a bench together.

"There you two are. What happened back there?" Jaime questioned.

"It was nothing. We were just reminded of…something." Aster replied.

"You'll be alright?" Bart questioned.

Aster nodded before looking down at her sister she was hugging closely.

"Valentina?" She questioned.

Valentina sat up, pulling some loose hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, I think so." She said as the same piece of hair fell from behind her ear.

"Come on. Let's get some food."

"Oh, smoothies!" Valentina clapped as she bounced up.

Jaime just smiled softly and everyone agreed to the idea. Later on at a close smoothie place, the four sat outside under the sun…after Valentina practically begged them to.

"So, Valentina…we know where Mirabella and Aster come from but what you? Where'd you grow up?" Jaime questioned, trying to break some tension between the group, mostly between Aster and Bart though.

Valentina looked up from her phone, obviously not paying attention to anyone.

"Uh…well…I grew up…in a…" She trailed off, not really wanting to reply.

"Valentina?" Bart questioned.

She just played with the straw in her drink, trying to hide her life. Aster was upset, she didn't like it when Valentina hid herself.

"Valentina's from a rich family."

"Aster!" Valentina snapped.

"It's true! Why don't you like telling people?"

"Oh, I wonder!" Valentina sarcastically shouted.

"Wait…You're rich?" Bart questioned.

"**Was** rich." Valentina corrected.

"What happened?" Jaime asked.

"My parents…forgot about…me."

"How do your parents forget about you?"

"I don't know. I didn't have friends, homeschooled, had everything I asked for the second I did. My parents spoiled me, but then…one night they just up and packed and left me in the house alone. The next thing I know, the police are arresting me for trespassing and endangering the people that lived there."

"Didn't you tell them you lived there?" Bart asked.

"I tried to, but they wouldn't listen to me. I got out for being a minor and not doing any real damage. They were going to put me in a foster home, but I ran. I don't want to go to a foster home, but…now I think about it, it probably would've saved me. I lived off the streets for four years by myself."

"Oh…wow…That must've been so horrible to wake up to." Jaime said before remembering Aster's life. "Except…I think Aster had it harder."

"She did." Valentina replied as she rested her head on her folded arms on the table.

"Hey, hey! Let's not go there, okay?" Bart said. "Let's talk about something happier instead. Like…what was your favorite part of the movie?"

"I liked the Hulk and Loki smack down." Aster replied, a smile forming across her face.

"Same here!" Jaime agreed.

"I liked when Tony told Captain what he would be without his Ironman suit." Valentina added in on the conversation.

They all laughed.

"Robert Downey Jr. is hilarious." Bart said as he smacked the table with his hand.

"Yeah." Jaime agreed.

The group's happy mood was shattered when ear splitting screams of terror began to fill the air. An explosion rocked the very earth and knocked the team off their feet.

"What is that?" Aster questioned over the all noise.

Valentina had turned white faced with terror as she quietly replied to herself, "Ivy…She's back."

The four looked around, nobody paying attention. The girls ran inside the shop and the boys changed quickly. Using the sonic blaster, Blue blew Ivy off her vine that she was standing on. Impulse ran around her in a tight circle, suffocating Ivy. Falling on her knees, Ivy thrusted her arm up, making a vine pop up out of the ground and knock Impulse down, then wrap around him and lift him in the air. Blue tried to help, but a vine wrapped around him too. When the pressure of the vines seemed to become too much, two balls of light burned through the vines. The boys started to falling until two black vines caught them and set them safely on the ground where the girls ran over to help.

"Are you two okay?" Solara asked.

The two boys groaned.

"I think so. Thanks for the save." Impulse replied.

"Good. Now, let's—Ah!"

Before Aster could finish, a wall of thick, thorny vines trapped three of them. Valentina's eyes stopped glowing as the vines had trapped them. Inside the trap, Solara had a small ball of light form on her hand, giving light to the three of them.

"What's going on here?" Blue questioned.

"_I warned you not to trust the Black Thorn. She has now trapped you three in vines that even the Impulse cannot vibrate himself through._" The scarab explained.

"Why would Black Thorn do this?" Blue questioned, forgetting about the other two.

"Black Thorn didn't do this! She wouldn't!" Solara denied.

"Impulse, can you vibrate through these things?" Blue asked as he tried to touch one. "Ow…"

Impulse tried to vibrate through the vines, but was thrown back in pain. Solara ran over, holding Impulse up for support from the pain.

"Are you alright? What happened?" She asked quickly.

"Ah…I can feel the thorns when I vibrate. They seriously hurt. I think I'll be okay…not that you really care anyways."

"My powers won't work either. She's never made so much of her vines before. She must've been practicing. And I do care…I care more than you think."

"Really? And how's that? You don't even care how I really feel!"

"I do!"

The two fell quiet in shock, but Blue remained focused as he wasn't even paying attention was going on.

"_Our armor has no attacks effective enough to free us, Jaime Reyes._"

Blue sighed heavily in defeat.

"My scarab says I don't have anything effective either. We're stuck in here." Then he noticed how Impulse and Solara weren't talking, but looking away from each other in embarrassment. "What? What happened?"

Outside the trap Black Thorn sprung, she was trying to fight Ivy, who was just dodging all of the attacks that came her way and threw vines in front of herself for a shield.

"Oh, Black Thorn, why do try to attack me? You know I'm better than you on every level of your powers." Ivy said before making a giant vine slam down on Thorn, knocking her to the ground.

Thorn sat up in pain, she held her left arm in udder pain. Her uniform was torn and her arm was limp with pain, and probably dislocated as she stood up weakly.

"You tried to kill my sisters!" She screamed, making a vine attack Ivy. "I trusted you!" The vine wrapped around Ivy, and squeezed. "You said you would meet with Nightwing! Meet with him and tell him you were going to help with my powers!" Ivy made the vine explode around her, not a scratch was on Ivy. "You were going to turn a new leaf, you said!" Thorn screamed as she continued to attempt her attacking against Ivy.

"I say a lot of things that aren't true, darling. You should've known that before I was secretly training you. I mean…did you even tell your **leader** about any of them? About the talk we had, the secret missions, the training? Did you tell him you were secretly training to be a **spy**?"

"Spy? No…I—I—I…wouldn't. I would never be a spy against the team! They're my family!" Thorn argued, trying to deny everything Ivy was spilling into her head.

"Oh, really? Well, that's not really true is it?"

"What are you talking about? What did you do?"

"Oh, I didn't do anything." Ivy came down and walked over to Thorn. "It was all you, darling." She walked behind Thorn, placing both hands on Thorn's shoulders, and leaned her head in close next to Thorn's ear before whispering, "Who knew you would be such a great villain…and not even know it?"

"No, I'm nothing like you!" Ivy snapped.

"You have the same powers, the same likings I do…Who's to say you aren't my child? I mean…you did read my file, didn't you? You know I have children all over."

"I did…but M'Gann said…"

"You mean you believe her more than your own _**mother**_?"

Thorn stood ready to fight Ivy, her hands glowed a black light, brighter than before.

"Leave me alone!" Thorn screamed.

A black vine popped up and started for Ivy.

"Ah-ah-ah…What about your friends?" Ivy said as the trap Thorn made started closing tighter and tighter.

The vine stopped and moved back to Thorn.

"No! Leave them alone!" Thorn shouted, almost pleading.

"Then…make a decision, rose. Either come with me, or…" The trap was getting tighter. "…you can watch as I make your friends into plant mulch."

Thorn stood there in anger as the trap was getting smaller and smaller.

"Well, what's it gonna be?" Ivy asked, becoming impatient.

All Thorn could think of was Blue inside there, about to die because of her. All the things he's done for her...**with** her. Meeting Tye and skating with them, meeting him that day at the Cave when she was becoming a member of the team, training, missions, taking care of Mirabella, and today at the movies and drinking smoothies…All of it rushed in her mind, but she still couldn't decide which to take. Watch them die and not become evil, or save them and become Ivy's protégé. What would she pick?


	13. Unpredictable

Chapter Thirteen

Last we left, Black Thorn (Valentina) had to decide whether to go with Ivy and save her friends, or watch them die. What would she decide?

"It's getting a little crowded in here!" Solara shouted.

The three were back and back, the trap being too small.

"You know…you don't have to shout. We're right here." Blue strained.

"Sorry…I don't do well in small spaces. Ugh! Thorn, when I see you again, I'm gonna-"

"Wait a second. Listen." Impulse said.

The three listened; they heard sounds outside of the trap, like loud talking. Outside the trap, Thorn had relaxed, making a decision.

"That's a good girl, Black Thorn."

"I didn't say what I was picking yet, Ivy. I only relaxed."

"Oh, well, time's running out for your friends, darling. You should probably pick soon."

"Ivy, wait." The trap stopped moving. "I've got something to say…to say to them…please?"

Ivy pouted, disappointed, but released the trap and made the vines wrap tightly around the three, bounding them together.

"Thorn! Hey, hey! What's up…traitor?"

Thorn walked over, bending down to the three.

"Impulse, I'm not a traitor." She whispered.

"Then why'd you trap us?" Solara questioned.

"Because…I—I didn't want you to know…" She sighed heavily. "…to know that Ivy was secretly training me, or giving me special missions. She turned me into a spy…for her. I'm sorry."

"Why would you do this?"

"Because, Blue…She's…She has the powers and I…felt alone. She said she could help me, help control my powers, but instead…she turned me into a spy."

"Thorn…you were never alone. We told you that…**Everyone **told you that."

"I know that now, Impulse. But…you don't know what it's like. It's like you're screaming, and no one can hear. You almost feel ashamed that someone could be that important. That without them, you felt like nothing. You will never understand how much it hurts. You feel hopeless…like—like nothing can save you."

I got that from the beginning speech of Rihanna's _We Found Love _(We do not own!)

"Thorn…I had no idea…No idea how much pain you were really feeling. Why didn't you ever say anything?" Solara questioned.

"I didn't want to…and now…there's only one thing I can do to make it all right again. I have to go with Ivy."

She started walking away.

"Thorn, no!" Blue shouted.

"I have to; Blue…It's the only way to save you."

"Hey!" Thorn turned around. "There is always another way!"

"But…" She turned. "I'm sorry." Thorn started crying.

Then Solara popped an idea.

"Blue…can you make a CD player?" She whispered.

"I think so. Why?"

"I've got a CD in my back pocket. If one of you can reach it and put it on, we can talk Thorn into staying."

"How?" Impulse questioned.

"Just trust me on this."

Thorn walked over to Ivy.

"I'm ready to go."

After a long moment, the music for _Dig Down Deeper by Zendaya_ started up, and Thorn stopped dead in her tracks.

"Thorn, remember what I've told you! _You can watch your garden grow. And skim along the surface and take it slow. Just let nature have its way. Let your little flowers bloom where they may_."

Thorn was dancing with the song.

"What are you doing?" Thorn questioned.

"You need to remember who you are! _You can keep things as they have always been, and you'll never leave the row you've been planting in. Take a chance and make the leap, and anything can happen if you dig down deep_!"

At the end of Solara's song, Thorn had flipped a couple of times, one handed because of the other being dislocated, and kicked Ivy across the ground. It didn't last for long as Ivy got back up on her feet.

"You'll pay for that…_**darling**_."

"No! It—It wasn't me! I—I can't control myself around music! I'm sorry!" Thorn shouted before a vine popped up behind her, grabbing her.

"Too bad…Because anyone who hurts me, **or my plants**, are dead to me…_literary_."

The vines started squeezing around Thorn. She tried to free herself, but nothing worked.

"No! Thorn!" Solara glared at Ivy. "Leave her alone!"

Ivy walked over and bent down in front of Solara, gently touching her face.

"Don't touch her!" Impulse shouted.

"Oh…So the speedster _**likes **_the dimmer, huh?"

"The what?" Impulse questioned.

"That's what people like her are called. You didn't know?"

"Oh…leave her alone, Ivy!"

Ivy took Solara by the throat and lifted her in to the air, a few inches off the ground, and started strangling her.

"Stop it!" Impulse screamed, almost crying.

Ivy smirked and dropped Solara on the ground, who screamed in pain from something cracking. Then Ivy kicked her in the stomach and walked over to Impulse, doing what she was to Solara before dropping her on the ground.

"No…Don't…you hurt…him." Solara said too quietly. She struggled to look over, but she could Impulse's choked screams. This made Solara so mad; her entire body started glowing brightly, brightly like the sun, and was free from the vines. "I said…don't you hurt him!" She screamed before attacking Ivy.

Solara didn't even have to touch Ivy before she threw her into a stone table. Solara's attack weakened Ivy's control on the vines and they released everyone. Thorn, who was high in the air, started falling when Blue flew up and caught her just seconds from hitting the ground.

"Thorn...?" Blue questioned as he gently touched her face.

Thorn groaned and winced her eyes shut and then fluttered them open. She turned up toward Blue's face.

"Blue…?" She smiled. "Thank you…"

Then a loud screaming was heard from Solara, who crashed into the smoothie shop. She climbed down and jumped at Ivy, tackling her to the ground. Solara's bright light disappeared, but her eyes had turned white. Thorn and Blue ran over to help Impulse, who was lying on the ground.

"You alright, hermano?" Blue asked.

"I think so…What happened?"

"Ivy was going to kill you when Solara's anger got the best of her and now…she's beating Ivy into a pulp." Thorn explained.

The three watched as Solara beat Ivy into the ground, she looked terrifyingly powerful. There was a large dent in the ground where Ivy was and Solara was continuously punching her deeper into the ground. Impulse rushed over and blocked Solara's next series of punches.

"Solara, stop!" He shouted, Solara's fist stopping right in front of his face.

"Impulse…?" She questioned in realization of what she had done. "Oh…Oh, no…I—I hurt her. I…" Her eyes turned back to their original purple color.

"She's alive." Impulse interrupted before Ivy groaned slightly, going unconscious. "You see?"

"I—I…Oh…" Solara started falling over, Impulse caught her. "I feel tired."

"Don't worry…We'll get you back to the Cave."

"Thank you…" She groaned a little. "…for loving me."

"Someone has too." Impulse chuckled slightly.

Solara chuckled back slightly before passing out. Impulse looked over to Blue, having Thorn lean on him.

"Let's get her back...Her, **and **I, need some medical attention."

"Are you alright?" Blue asked.

"No...My left arm, I think it's dislocated."

Getting back to the Cave, Nightwing had been waiting for them.

"Where were you four? No one knew where you were or what you were—What happened to you?"

"Ivy attacked us while we were hanging out in El Paso." Blue replied.

"Solara's passed out, probably broke something, and I think my left arm is dislocated." Thorn added.

"Get in the med-ward." They nodded and started for the med-ward. Nightwing stopped Impulse. "You stay in there too. I should take a look at your throat, you've been strangled."

"I'll be fine. I'm more worried about Solara."

Nightwing smiled softly, remembering him and Zatanna.

"Alright. Get her in the med-ward...but I'm ordering you to stay in there. When I'm done with the girls, I'll take a look at you and Blue."

"Fine." Impulse sighed.

A little while later, the four were in the med-ward, being checked by Nightwing and M'Gann.

"AAHH!" Valentina screamed in pain as Nightwing pushed her shoulder in place again.

"Sorry." Nightwing apologized.

Valentina couldn't speak because of all the pain she was in; she just laid down on the bed she was sitting on. Nightwing turned toward M'Gann, working on Aster.

"How is she?" He asked.

M'Gann came out of her concentration.

"She'll be okay. Right leg is broken. It'll take a few weeks to heal. And...Huh?"

M'Gann wasn't able to finish as Aster's body glowed slightly, mostly around her leg. After a long moment, the glowing stopped and Aster groaned awake.

"Aster!" Bart shouted as he rushed over to her side.

"Ugh...B—Bart? Hey..."

"Hey..."

"Huh...Maybe she can heal faster than we thought. Her leg's healed." M'Gann said.

Aster started sitting up.

"Ugh…My head hurts. What happened?" Aster questioned as she held her head.

"You beat Poison Ivy." Blue replied.

Aster looked over to her side, seeing Valentina lying down.

"Val?" She said quietly.

"She'll be okay. Dislocated shoulder. I put it back in just a second ago."

That's when the doors opened and Mirabella ran in with Garfield in follow. She hugged Blue, then Aster, and held tight.

"Are you alright, Aster? What happened?" Mirabella asked.

"We were attacked by Ivy. Nothing permanent."

"What about Valentina?"

"Her shoulder was dislocated, is all. She'll need some time to recover."

"I've gotta talk to her when she's feeling up to it." Nightwing said.

"And until then, you four should rest." M'Gann added.

"I'm fine." Impulse shot back.

Aster rested a hand on his shoulder, Bart turning to her.

"Bart…get some rest. Please?" Aster said, pleadingly.

He looked over to Blue, starting to lay on a bed, and he nodded to Bart. He sighed heavily as he turned back to Aster.

"Alright. I'll get some rest."

"Mirabella, we should let them rest." Garfield told her.

"I wanna stay!" She shouted.

Bart walked over, mask slung over his shoulders, and rested his hands on her shoulders as he came to eye level with her.

"Mirabella, we need to rest. I promise we'll check in on you when we wake up. Okay?" Bart smiled.

Mirabella smiled slightly back to him.

"Alright…You really promise?"

"Yes, I promise. Okay? Stay with Garfield…We'll see you later."

She hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Bart. You really saved Aster."

Then she left with Garfield. M'Gann followed and, after everyone had laid down, Nightwing turned off the lights before leaving. As the armor disappeared, Jaime could feel his eyes shut, drifting into sleep. Just before he felt the sleep taking over, a hand was held over his mouth to prevent screaming.

"Shush…It's just me, Jaime."

Jaime turned onto his back, seeing it was Mirabella, Stardust in her arms.

"Mirabella? What are you doing up? We're supposed to be sleeping."

"I know, but I can't sleep."

"Why not?"

"Star and I, we keep hearing these weird hissing sounds."

"Hissing sounds?" Jaime questioned.

"_Jaime Reyes, there are intruders in the base. I suggest you armor up_."

Jaime nods in agreement and the blue armor once again surrounds his body.

"It'll be okay, Mirabella. Get the others up."

"Right." Mirabella said before waking up her sisters and Impulse.

After everyone was up, they all heard an almost wheezing sound. Solara turned toward the source, it being Impulse's breathing.

"Impulse, are you okay?" She asked as she walked over to help.

"No…" He wheezed.

"What's wrong?"

"I—It's hard…for me…to …to breathe…I—I…don't know…what's wrong…"

"Ivy must've poisoned you!" Blue said.

"No way…she…only has…the poison…part…in her…name." Impulse replied sarcastically.

"Sorry. That's really redundant now that I think about it."

"Yeah…ok…Does…your…suit…come with…antidotes?"

"No. But I'll try to make one."

"Thanks."

"Hello, little heroes. So sorry to intrude, but I have business with Thorn." Ivy said, stepping from the shadows, before a giant vine pops up and grabs Thorn.

Blue blasts the vine cleanly, catching Thorn.

"Thanks."

"You're…welcome."

Just as they were about to lean in for a kiss, Ivy made a vine smash into Blue, throwing him across the room and through the wall.

"Blue!" Thorn shouted. As she tried to run to him, a vine grabbed her, but her arms were still free. "Let me go!"

"Sorry, dear. But you need to see that he will never really love you."

"You're lying!"

"Why would I lie? You did betray the team, gave away their secrets, let an enemy in."

"Yeah?! Well, that's about to change!"

Then Thorn's eyes glowed black and a vine shot up through the vine she was being held with. Thorn landed and ran over to Blue, passed out.

"You'll be okay, Blue. Just hold in there."

Then a vine grabbed her and threw her back inside the med-ward, smashing into the wall. Thorn, with some armor built into her uniform, got up winded. She wiped her bottom lip, bleeding slightly, and spit by her feet. Then Thorn fell to her hands and knees. Aster, Stardust and Mirabella ran over to her to help.

"You'll pay for what you did! One way or another, you will pay!" Ivy said.

"No…y—you…won't…get…away…w—with this." Impulse said before collapsing on the ground.

"Impulse!" Solara said.

As she tried to reach him, Ivy blocked her path.

"No so fast…" She said.

"The boy will die…unless you join me."

"Impulse, no!"

Valentina held her sister back.

"Aster, stop!" Aster relaxed, tears in her eyes as she heard Impulse's strangled breathing. "We have to go with her, Aster."

"Thorn!"

"Aster, we don't have a choice! Impulse is gonna die if we don't! Do you really want that?"

Aster gulped, choking back the truth of the matter. The three girls held hands as they walked over to Ivy.

"Release him, and we'll go with you." Aster choked.

Ivy nodded, a smiled across her face, and waved her hand. After a moment, Impulse sat up, gasping for air. Aster pushed by Ivy and landed on her knees next to him, hugging him tightly.

"Impulse, are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm okay…"

"I'm so glad…Now, listen…" Aster whispered quietly that only Impulse could hear.

"Come on, darling. We have to get going." Ivy said impatiently.

Aster let go and nodded to Impulse, before punching him in the stomach.

"Just so he can't stop us, Ivy."

"Of course, darling. You'll make a great protégé."

The five started walking out when a rush of wind passed them.

"Now, Impulse!" Aster shouted as she tossed breathers to her sisters.

Then a funnel started around them, Ivy losing air and became too weak to fight anymore. Then Impulse stopped and the girls removed their breathers.

"But…she…punched you. She…knocked you…out."

"I only pretended to punch him, so we could stop you."

That's when the rest of the team rushed in, Nightwing handcuffing Ivy, along with an inhibitor collar, so she couldn't get away. Then Thorn remembered Blue when he started groaning.

"Blue!" Thorn shouted as she ran over. "Blue, are you alright?"

"I think so…Ugh…Man, she's powerful."

"Here, let me help you up." Thorn said as she helped Blue stand up.

_**March 16 (Late afternoon-midevening):**_

Aster had just finished putting together her piano alone since Valentina was showering and staying with Mirabella and Jaime for the night. Just as she was packing up Conner's tools he let her borrow, a small knock echoed off the door. Aster walked over, opening the sliding door to someone kissing her. After a moment, they pulled apart, Aster seeing it was Bart.

"Uh…Bart…"

"Look, I know you probably don't want to talk to me…or **anyone **right now, but I need to talk to you."

"Oh…okay. Come in." Aster said as she stepped aside.

"R—Really?"

Aster nodded. Then Bart entered the room, looking around the painted room. One half was dark green and black (Valentina's), and the other half was white, red and yellow (Aster's). There were two tall book shelves in the middle where the paint met each other. Each painted half had a bed, a nightstand, desk, and dresser. Aster's side had a giant piano, a violin, and guitar. There was sheet music all over the place, including the bed.

"Sorry about the mess. I haven't really had time to clean up."

"It's okay. It seems very you." Bart said as he picked up a CD on top of her nightstand.

"Oh, please don't-"

But it was too late, Bart had put on her headphones and listened to the music. A long moment later, he took one off.

"This is really good. Who is it?"

"Uh…It's…uh…It's me."

"You? No way! You're awesome!"

"Thanks…" She said as her cheeks started to turn pink.

Bart put the music back and sat on the bed.

"Bart…you wanted to talk?"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

"It's alright. What's up?" Aster questioned as she sat next to Bart on the bed.

"Uh…well…remember when we were trapped in that vine thing yesterday?"

"Yeah…What about it? You're breathing fine, right? Because I can get Nightwing in here and-"

"No…No…I'm fine. I was talking about…what you said."

"I said a lot of things, Bart."

"I meant…" He held her hand. "…about you caring about how I really feel about you."

Aster removed her hand from his before walking over to her piano.

"Oh…well…yeah…" Aster said, not really sure how to respond.

She meant what she said. She loved him. She did ever since the first mission she had with him. But how was she supposed to tell him that? Bart walked over and held both of her hands in his.

"Aster…do you love me?" Bart asked.

Aster just walked away, grabbing her guitar and sat on the bed, tuning her guitar.

"Aster…"

She held up her hand and started strumming her guitar.

"I need to tell you something, Bart." Then he sat next to her. "Actually, I'm not very good with words, so I kind of…sort of…put them…in a song."

Bart touched the hand that was playing with guitar strings, making Aster stop strumming random notes. He leaned in close where Aster's full face went red.

"I'm ready to listen." He said before pulling away.

Her face went back to slightly pink before she started strumming, but the wrong notes.

"Ah…oh, no…I'm so sorry. I—I don't know—I…" Aster started walking out when Bart grabbed her hand.

"Aster…it's okay…" He laughed. "Just relax…Take your time."

Aster sat back on the bed, pulling her guitar back to her lap. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before strumming again.

"_When every day is the same old routine, be bold, change it up, kill monotony. I don't like to blend in with the crowd. I don't like to be quiet, I like it loud. I'm spontaneous, delirious and all between. Live like there's no tomorrow. Know what I mean? I hate when things are simple and so plain. Don't wanna be the same, 'cause I'm unpredictable, unpredictable. I like when things are crazy and insane. Don't wanna be tame, 'cause I'm unpredictable, unpredictable. I can't stand to be understandable. I can't control that I'm uncontrollable. Don't be so uptight, just let it go. Do the unexpected or you'll never know. I hate when things are simple and so plain. Don't wanna be the same, 'cause I'm unpredictable, unpredictable. I like when things are crazy and insane. Don't wanna be tame, 'cause I'm unpredictable, unpredictable. Don't wanna be the same, don't wanna be tame. I like when things are crazy and insane. Don't wanna be tame. And I hate when things are boring and mundane, 'cause I don't, I don't wanna be the same. I hate when things are simple and so plain. Don't wanna be the same, 'cause I'm unpredictable, unpredictable. I like when things are crazy and insane. Don't wanna be tame, 'cause I'm unpredictable, unpredictable._"

When Aster was done, she set her guitar against the bed on the floor and turned back to Bart, who looked kind of sad.

"Bart? Are you alright?"

He looked up at her and smiled.

"Yeah…I just didn't know how you were."

"I know…but no one's ever really gotten to know me before. I just wanted you…"

But before she could continue, Bart had kissed her. His force was so great; she was pushed to the wooden foot of the bed. She was going to push him off, but ended up kissing him back. After along moment, Bart pulled back slowly.

"You…uh…You didn't push me off."

"I…know. I didn't want too." Aster leaned toward him, touching his face with one hand. "I…love you, Bart."

Before he could say anything, she had kissed him.

**C19G13M: Hey, the song that WE DO NOT OWN is **_**Unpredictable **_**by Skye Sweetnam.**


	14. Roller Derby Newbie

Chapter Fourteen

_**March 19:**_

The zeta tubes activated only a few moments ago before when Anima ran in, Stardust on her heels.

"Artemis!" She shouted as she moved swiftly past the others and into Artemis' arms.

"Oh, Mirabella! How are you?"

"I'm not Mirabella."

"Oh, right. You're Anima. I forgot."

"It's okay. I'm great by the way."

"That's great! The guys aren't beating on you too hard, are they?"

"Nah…Gar—I mean Beast Boy protects me from them."

"Yeah…No one's gonna hurt her." Beast Boy added as he put an arm around Anima's shoulders.

Artemis smiled softly as she figured out the two were dating.

"Artemis!"

"Aster! Are you fitting in well?"

"Yep…At least I think so."

"All three of them have been doing well actually." The Stardust growled at Nightwing. "I meant for."

Then she barked happily.

"Hey, Artemis…Why are you all dressed up in your uniform? I thought you and Wally were re—re…tir…ed."

"Hey, you're getting better." Nightwing said.

"Thank you."

"And we are, Anima, but Nightwing really needed me for this mission."

"Oh, cool!"

"Come on, Anima. We should let them get going on the mission." Beast Boy said.

"Okay. Bye Artemis! Good luck, Aster!"

"See you, later!" Artemis waved.

"Bye, Anima…I'll talk to you later."

Aster stayed, going on the mission as well.

_**March 19 (Later):**_

The zeta tubes turned on, the team returning. Aster came in last, removing her mask and falling on her knees. Mirabella and Valentina, her arm in a sling, ran in happily, expecting great news, but the happy emotion disappeared when they saw Aster.

"Aster? Aster, what happened? Didn't the mission go well?" Mirabella asked.

Aster shook her hung head. She looked up, opening her arms for Mirabella to go in. Mirabella hugged her back and then realized who was missing.

"Where's Artemis?" Valentina questioned before Mirabella.

"She—She's dead, Val."

"What? No…" Mirabella said before crying into Aster's arms.

"Who killed her?"

"Someone called…Aqualad. They took La'Gann, too. He was captured."

"No! Why?"

"Aqualad…he's working with **them**."

Valentina fell backward, shock and fear over coming her entire body.

"No…" She said.

"Yes…I watched him stab her, I heard what he told her. _Welcome back_."

"Hey, everything alright?" Bart asked, just walking in.

Aster just dug her face in her hands and cried. Mirabella sitting next to her. Bart ran over and tried to help. Valentina walked into the next room, wobbly. Cassie walked over, stopping in front of her friend.

"Val? You okay?" Cassie asked.

Valentina just landed on her knees and cried. Cassie landed on the ground next to her and held Valentina close. Everyone started walking over when Cassie waved them away, signaling she was handling it. Mirabella walked in and saw Cassie holding her sister, and decided not to bother since Cassie seemed to have it under control. Mirabella walked over to Garfield and M'Gann, and sat on the arm of the couch, gently touching M'Gann's shoulder in comfort. She knew what M'Gann lost that night, her best friend and her boyfriend. Mirabella thought back to months before, when she was first captured.

_*Flashback (Mirabella POV)*_

I woke up groggily, everything was red, at least I thought it was. I couldn't move. The space I was in was too small, even for me. Then I heard a muffled screaming next to me, or next to the thing I was in. I leaned forward, seeing a girl, older than me, with long brown hair and purple eyes, trying to kick herself out.

"Hi…" I said.

"Hi." She said with anger in her voice before continuing her kicking.

"I'm Mirabella."

"Aster…"

"I like your name. It's pretty."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It reminds me of the sun kind of."

The girl fell silent afterward.

"I like your name too." She said after a long moment.

That's when a giant door opened; a giant black figure in black walked over and took me, still contained, to the next room. It was dark and all I could feel were claws, sharp claws digging into my skin, but after a while it didn't hurt. I had passed out due to the pain of the claws overcoming my entire body.

_*End Flashback (Regular POV)*_

_**March 21:**_

"I don't know, M'Gann. Are you sure about us going?" Aster questioned as she, Mirabella, and Stardust walked with M'Gann and Zatanna.

"Valentina will be fine. She's hanging out with Conner."

Aster was dressed in a white sun dress and wearing sunglasses so people wouldn't stare at her eyes. Mirabella was wearing a dark green strapless dress with a tip of one of Artemis' arrows around her neck, which Nightwing gave her. Stardust was wearing a brown collar and a leash so Mirabella wouldn't get in trouble.

"She really wanted to come." Mirabella said.

"Yeah, but after…everything, she didn't look like celebrating much of anything." Zatanna added.

They rounded the corner to see the other girls on the team, and sat down at the large table.

"Congratulations, Raquel." Aster said.

"Oh, thank you, Aster."

Mirabella handed Raquel a wrapped box.

"This is from all four of us. Val picked it out." Mirabella said.

"This one is from Artemis, too. She…helped pick it out." M'Gann said as she handed her present to Raquel.

"What am I doing? Having this party after-"

"Because Artemis would want us to!" Mirabella said.

Raquel stood up and smiled.

"To absent friends."

"To absent friends." The others agreed.

"And to the bride." M'Gann added.

"And to the bride!"

Back at the Cave, Conner and Valentina were about to leave when a noise maker was blown into his face.

"Happy birthday, Conner!" Valentina shouted.

"Valentina? Look, I don't really feel like…"

"I know, but…it's your birthday. I at least wanted to say it."

Conner smiled.

"Thanks, Valentina."

Valentina just returned the smile.

"Come on! Let's go!" Valentina said as she started pulling Conner.

"Go where?"

"Wherever you were going! Come on!"

"Okay, okay. Let me grab my jacket." Conner laughed before turning back to grab his jacket from his room.

After Conner had disappeared from the room, Jaime and Bart had walked up from the grotto below the Cave, laughing.

"Oh, hey guys." She greeted.

"Oh…uh…hey, Val." Jaime said.

"Hey, Val!" Bart greeted.

"How's your arm feeling?" Jaime asked.

"Great actually. Yeah…it's gotten…a lot better." Valentina replied.

"Good…good."

"Yeah." The room was silent. "How—How's your head?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, it's fine."

"Good. So, no concussion?"

"No! No…No concussion. I was-"

"Lucky…"

"Yeah…"

The two fell quiet between each other, awkwardly. After Ivy had attacked the Cave, the two just felt weird around each other. They almost kissed and the Ivy slammed Blue against a wall pretty hard. They just didn't know what to say about it, especially with Bart around. But it was awkward for him too, even if they didn't know it. Bart and Aster were now dating and they hadn't told anyone. They all still thought the two of them were arguing about the whole thing and just not talking to each other. He, and Aster, didn't know **how **to tell anyone, especially her sisters. What would they say? What would they think? It was awkward and everyone was just waiting for the right time to confess everything they felt and knew. Especially Bart. Tourist from the future, even Aster thought that was off, but she didn't push it. She loved him and he was the only one who ever loved her back. She didn't want to ruin it between them with an overload of questions about the truth she had suspecting ever since Bart had arrived in 2016. Since the silence had gotten so thick in the room, Bart broke it, hating the extremely weird silence.

"Hey, Jaime and I are gonna hang out downtown in Metropolis. You wanna join us, Valentina?"

"Yeah, it'd be fun." Jaime agreed.

"Huh? Oh…no…I'm hanging out with Conner. It's his birthday so I thought I'd give him some company since everyone else is either busy or forgot."

"Oh…okay. See ya later…I guess." Jaime said as he waved goodbye.

The two boys left through the zeta tubes before Conner returned with his brown jacket on.

"Ready…to go?" Conner asked before noticing how uneven Valentina suddenly looked. "Hey, everything alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah…I'll be okay."

"If you don't wanna go anywhere, you can-"

"No! I mean…No, it's okay. Really, I'm fine. Come on, birthday boy." Valentina said as a fake smile crept across her face.

"Alright. But if you wanna come back at any time, you just tell me, okay?"

"Okay…Why are you being so nice to me?"

"I…don't know. I feel like you're family to me. I just want you to be okay."

"So…I'm like your sister?" Valentina smirked.

"I guess…I don't know. Let's just go…please?"

"Okay…okay…Let's go meet up with your friend Wendy." Valentina replied with a slight laughter over her voice.

Then the two left to meet up with Wendy Harris in Ivy Town.

_**March 22:**_

Jaime was sitting on the couch, doing nothing much, when the front door swung open. Mirabella and Stardust ran through and up the stairs.

"Hi, Jaime!" She shouted as she disappeared up the stairs.

"Hey, Mirabella! Hey, Stardust!" He greeted back, shouting from his seat on the couch.

Then someone uninexpectingly cover Jaime's eyes with their hands.

"_We are being attacked from behind. Attack immediately!_"

Just before Jaime was going to react, they released him. Jaime stood up and turned around quickly, only to lower his hands in a relaxed position.

"Sorry, I should've known not to sneak up on you like that. Man, your scarab must really hate me to tell you to attack me."

"Valentina?"

"_The Black Thorn is a danger. We must kill her at once._"

"Wow...I snuck up you guys. I apologized, so you don't have to be rude about it, you over sized bug…thing." Valentina snapped.

"Ignore him. What are you doing here in the first place?"

"Dropping off Mirabella and Stardust. After the whole Ivy thing, I wanted to make sure Mirabella was safe."

"_Poison Ivy made her a spy. Do not trust the Black Thorn._"

"You do realize I can **hear **you, right?"

"But…he's right. She make you a spy."

"Yeah…but who says I told her the truth? Or that I didn't get anything off of her?"

"You spied the person you were spying for?"

"Not really. Unless recording every talk we ever had is called spying. I gave the tapes to Nightwing. He's dismissed me from any harm done to the team."

"Cool!"

"Yeah…right?" There was a long silence between them as Jaime sat down again. "Hey, Jaime…"

"Yeah, Val?"

"Uh…this is kind of weird but…Oh, never mind. You probably don't even really want to go."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing…"

"Come on, Val. What is it?" Jaime questioned as he turned to the side on the couch.

"Fine…" She sighed. "Look, I entered this contest off the radio and won two tickets to a skating derby. Nobody else wanted to go, so I was wondering…you know…since you like to skateboard, if you'd like to go…with me."

"Oh, uh…like a…date?"

"No! I mean…no. Like two _**just **_friends going to a roller derby together…as _**just **_friends."

"Oh, cool! Okay…Sure, why not?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, not like I'm doing—Oh, Mirabella. I can't leave her alone, remember?"

That's when Mirabella stepped down from the stairs, wearing a pair of ripped skinny jeans, a brown tank top and a white jean jacket, with sneakers. Stardust was sticking out her head from the side of the messenger bag Mirabella had slung around her body.

"Jaime…I'm going back to the Cave to meet up with Cassie. She just texted me and said she wanted to hang out. We're going around Gotham for the day. See ya later…"

"Be careful!" The two shouted after her as Mirabella shut the door behind her and Stardust.

"You worry about her too, huh?" Valentina questioned.

"Yeah. Ever since my parents let her move in, I've been getting close to her, like her older brother. I already have a younger sister and everything, but…Mirabella's different."

"I know right? Anyways…so Mirabella's gone. So we can go to the derby."

"Oh, yeah. Let me grab my skateboard and we can go."

"Cool." Valentina smiled as Jaime disappeared from the room. "Yes!" She cheered to herself.

After grabbing his skateboard, the two left for the derby in downtown El Paso. Getting to the arena, hundreds of teens were lined up in crowds outside and slowly moving into the building. Valentina and Jaime finally made it to the front, presenting their tickets, and entered.

"Wow…Look at this place! It's huge!" Valentina said rather loudly.

"Yeah, it sure is. Is this your first derby?"

"In person, yeah. All my life I've listened to it on the radio, but never really seen one before. Well, expect once. But I was like eight or something."

"Cool…Wow…this place is really busy, huh?"

"Of course it is, Reyes. It's the finals and the High Speed Ghouls, _the _only all girls team around, are competing against the Stonewaller Boys."

"Cool! I've heard about them! The best boys roller team."

"If you mean _best _as in the best to cheat, then yeah."

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember when I said I went to a derby once before? Well, I was backstage and saw them put nails on the bottom of one the opponent's skates. They couldn't skate, so the team had to forfeit the race."

"Did you tell someone?"

"No…Well, I tried. But no believed me."

"_The race is about to begin. I repeat, the race is about it begin_." A woman on the over speaker announced.

"Oh…Come on! We better hurry so we can get good seats!"

Valentina pulled Jaime through the thick crowd and to the last two open seats in the front row.

"Alright! Front row!" Valentina said as she pumped her fist in the air.

"Yeah…Wow, the High Speed Ghouls **must **be really awesome for you to cheer so much."

"Uh…duh! The HSG's even have their own dance! They are so cool."

Then Valentina stood up, seeing five girls roll by with padding on, the HSG's. That's when Jaime really figured out why Valentina liked them so much. The girls' uniforms were laced with black, thin vines and had dark colored roses on top of their helmets.

"Is the HSG's?" Jaime questioned to make sure.

"Yeah…There's Joss, the heavy hitter." Valentina pointed to a girl with long brown hair. "Beth, the sweet innocent, unexpecting one." A shorter girl with blonde hair. "Vick, the coordinator." A taller girl with short bright red hair. "Coca, she's basically the glue. She helped start the team." A medium girl with light brown hair. "And then there's Zen…Oh, she's the leader!" Valentina pointed to a girl about the same height with black hair and red highlights on the sides. "I wanna be her one day! She's the coolest!"

"Wow, you're a really big fan. I thought you said you've never seen a race since you were ten."

"I haven't. I read about them in magazines."

Then a loud pop echoed through the arena, signally the race to start. Valentina and Jaime cheered on the HSG's as they raced by. It became the fifth lap when the girls were winning. The Stonewall Boys were getting pretty upset about losing and four of them had sped up to catch up to Zen, blocking her in and bumping her around.

"Oh, no. The Stonewall Boys are closing in on Zen. They'll take her out." Valentina told Jaime before slipping under the railing.

"Val, what are you doing?" Jaime questioned as he grabbed her wrists.

"I'm saving Zen! No way I'm gonna let those cheaters hurt her. I'll be right back." Valentina said, Jaime still not letting go. "Jaime, let me go. I'll be fine."

"_The Black Thorn is putting herself in harm's way. I find no calculations to stopping her._"

"How will I know that for sure?" Jaime questioned.

Then Valentina kissed Jaime on the cheek.

"Everything will be alright…I promise." Just before she jumped down, Valentina added, "Oh, and tell your scarab to shut up! I can handle myself!"

Jaime let go and Valentina jumped down from the bleachers, skating on full speed as soon as she started up. Valentina dodged and jumped over guards trying to grab her, a couple of Stonewalls tried to squash her between them, but they failed and bumped into each other as Valentina sped up a little bit, and finally caught up to the Stonewall blockade. Valentina rammed herself into one of the boys and knocked them over the railing in the center of the track. The crowd cheered loudly as Valentina raced alongside the HSG's. Zen watched Valentina closely as she tried to escape the trap she was in. Valentina slipped into the trap with her, a wide smile across her face.

"Hey, Zen! I'm Valentina!"

"You're gonna get hurt kid! Get out of here before you do!"

"No way! I can handle it! I've been skating ever since I saw your first race when I was ten! You inspired me! I'm not gonna let these cheats win again!"

Zen fell quiet before sighing heavily.

"Alright…You've got guts, I can tell you that! Let's see what you've got, Valentina!"

"Whoo-hoo!" Valentina cheered as she high-fived Jaime as she passed him.

"Boyfriend of yours?" Zen asked.

"What? No! No…he's…" Valentina trailed off as she looked back to her _friend_.

The room seemed to slow down and go quiet around Valentina as her heart started to race as fast as she was going around the track. Then, after a long moment, Valentina started turning around, only to run into the wall of the bleachers and fall backward on the track.

"Oh…ow…That—That one hurt…" Valentina groaned as she sat up, holding her head.

A hand was held down to her, Valentina looking up it to see Zen.

"I told you, you were gonna get hurt. You okay?"

"I'll be okay. I've been hit worse than a stone wall." Valentina said as she stood up with the help of Zen.

"Good…Now, let's beat those cheats."

Valentina smiled and the two started up again, catching the others quickly. In the stands, two people pushed through the crowd and down to Jaime.

"Jaime!" Aster shouted over the continuous cheers of the crowd.

Jaime turned around to see Bart was with her.

"Aster? Bart? What are you doing here?"

"I knew Valentina won those tickets to this place! Where-" Then Aster saw Valentina racing with the HSG's on the track. "What is she doing down there?"

"She was saving Zen from the SWB's! I couldn't stop her!"

"You should've done better! She could get hurt out there!" Aster said as she started climbing over the railing.

"Uh…Aster?"

"Not now, Bart! I've gotta stop my sister from trying to kill herself!"

Just before Aster jumped down, Bart grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back over the railing just before the racers sped by at high speed.

"Are you alright?" Jaime questioned as he landed next to them.

"I think so. Bart?" Aster replied.

"I'm okay. And I'm glad you are too because…then I can yell at you! Are you nuts? What were you thinking? Those skaters are going high speed, you could've been killed!"

"I'm…sorry. I forget how reckless I can be."

"No…you're overprotective. There's a difference."

"Are two still fighting?" Jaime asked, practically groaning.

"No…We're…Jaime, Bart and I, we're…" Aster was cut off by the louder cheers of the crowd, a winner was announced.

"_And the winner for this year's roller derby is…the HSG's!_"

The crowd went crazy and rushed over, Jaime finding Valentina and pulling her out before it was too thick.

"Are you nuts?" He asked with a smile.

"What can I say? Skating…and dancing are two of my passions. I can't help it." Valentina replied.

"I almost got killed from Aster, who almost got killed by skaters trying to save you. Are you always this reckless?"

Valentina gently touched his face and pressed her forehead against his.

"Maybe…I just am that reckless. It's…who I am."

"I…like that about you."

"I'm glad."

Then Jaime and Valentina kissed. Aster was about to break it up but Bart caught her and pulled her into a kiss. After a moment, Val and Jaime pulled away.

"Wow…"

"Yeah…come on. Let's get out of here before Aster yells at me for sneaking into the derby."

"Right. What's your plan?"

"Your house? She'll find me at the Cave."

Jaime nodded and the two disappeared before Bart and Aster even noticed. After a moment, they pulled away, Aster blushing hard from the kiss. Then, recovering from the kiss, looked around not seeing her sister.

"Ugh! Bart, why'd you do that?"

"Your sister won the derby, you should be happy. And you should also be happy that she found someone to make her happy…" Then Bart kissed her on the nose. "…just like I did."

Then, before Aster could reply, Bart picked her up in his arms.

"Let's go back to the Cave."

"But, Valentina…"

"She'll be fine. Blue's got her."

"Fine." Aster sighed.

Getting back to the Cave, it was late and everyone was just going to bed when Bart and Aster came in.

"This was fun…except for Valentina almost getting killed." Aster said.

"Yeah…it was fun. I liked hanging out with you." They were silent for a little while. "I guess I better get going. The Garrets are gonna be waiting for me."

"Cool…" Just as Bart was turning around, Aster grabbed his arm. "Bart, wait."

He turned back around, worry spreading on his face.

"What's wrong, Aster?"

"I…Do you want to stay…tonight?"

"Stay? Here?"

"Yeah…I'm not used to being a room by myself and Valentina's at Jaime's house. Mirabella's with Garfield…"

"You're…scared…to be alone?"

"Hmm-mmm…Please?"

Bart smiled walked back over to Aster, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his forehead on hers.

"Sure…Anything for you."

Then they kissed before walking to Aster's room and going to sleep. Bart was asleep behind Aster's body, wrapping one arm over her.


	15. A Warm Home Is Now Gone

Chapter Fifteen

_**March 23**_

The next morning, Valentina was asleep on the couch of the Reyes household. She woke up to the smell of breakfast being made in the close next room. After getting up, she slummed into the kitchen, sitting at the table, not noticing Jaime's family, including Mirabella, sitting there. After a long moment, she realized they were there and ran to hide around the corner.

"Val…it's okay. Come here." Jaime said as he led Valentina to an empty seat at the table.

"Uh…hello." She said quietly.

"Hola. How are you feeling?" Mr. Reyes questioned.

"Uh…"

"I told them about the roller derby last night." Jaime said.

"Oh…right. My legs a little sore but they seem to better than last night. That was a big race last night."

"Yes, Jaime told us all about it. A roller derby save. Impressive for you?"

"Yes, Mrs. Reyes."

There was a slight silence before Jaime's little sister questioned, "So…are you and Jaime dating?"

"Milargo!" Jaime snapped.

"What?" She questioned.

"Milargo, that's not polite to ask."

"Sorry."

"Well, actually, Jaime and I are—We're just good friends…I think."

"It's really nothing much between us."

"Really? Huh…Then, do you mind if I ask you something, Valentina?"

"Um…sure, Mrs. Reyes."

"When did you move into town?"

"Oh…um…I moved into town about…a…week ago? Yeah, and Jaime's been helping me fit in at school and everything." Valentina lied.

"Yeah, that's right. I was helping her study last night…after the race…when she fell asleep." Jaime added.

"Oh, right." Valentina agreed, pretending to remember.

"Hmm…well, I would love to meet your parents." Mr. Reyes said.

"Oh, umm…I—I don't…have parents, sir."

"Of course you do. You're too young to be by yourself."

"I know, Mrs. Reyes, but…my parents…they left me alone when I was little so I've been living with my sisters—I mean…sister. She's taken care of me pretty well."

"Oh, my. Where do you two live?"

"Um…in a…an old apartment complex. Aster thinks it'd be better. It's definitely cheap for us."

"Maybe you should move in here…with us."

"What? Oh, no." Jaime said.

"No, we already took Mirabella in. I'm sorry, Valentina. We hardly have space as it." Mr. Reyes agreed with his son.

"These two girls need a place to live. A proper place to live. And we have plenty of space in this huge house."

"No, no…We wouldn't want to be a bother."

"It wouldn't be a bother, sweetheart. Now, would it?"

"You know, now that I think about it, we don't use the basement. They could move in there." That's when Valentina kicked him in the leg under the table. "Ow! What?"

"I've gotta go. Aster's probably getting worried."

"I'll walk you out." Jaime said.

Then the two started to leave.

"Oh, Valentina…"

"Um…yes, Mrs. Reyes?"

She walked over to Valentina, taking off the necklace she was wearing.

"Mom…what are you doing?" Jaime asked.

"This necklace has been in my family for generations." It was beautiful. Green with a small rose captured in glass. "I want you to wear it as a reminder that our door is always open for you and your sister…if you ever change your mind."

Mrs. Reyes put the necklace around Valentina's neck. Valentina was speechless; she couldn't believe that Jaime's mom gave something that was passed down for generations to a practical stranger she **just **met.

"T—Th—Thank you, Mrs. Reyes." Valentina said as she hugged her. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Reyes."

"You're welcome, Valentina."

They released and Jaime walked out of the house with Valentina, meeting on the porch.

"Wow…your family is…"

Valentina couldn't finish as Jaime pulled her into a kiss. After a moment, he pulled away from her.

"Last night, at the derby…are you ready for us?" Jaime asked.

"Jaime…" She sat on the steps, Jaime sitting next to her. "Jaime…I don't know."

"You kissed me last night. It's either a mistake or you're ready. I need to know which it is."

"I…don't know. Let's meet up later…say an hour? Zeta to Elmond, Virginia. We can talk there."

_**March 23 (An hour later):**_

"_Recognized: Blue Beetle—B22_"

"There are you. I was starting to worry." Valentina greeted.

"Sorry, my mom."

"Oh, right. Come on, let's walk."

There was a silence between them as they walked through a park and sat on the edge of a fountain.

"We aren't talking."

"I don't know where to start, Jaime."

"Start with yesterday."

Valentina took a deep breath and started explaining yesterday, her weird feelings before crashing into the wall and the sudden kiss. She didn't really know how to explain them too well, she kept stuttering to find words to explain the feelings and actions. After a while, her stuttering got so bad, Jaime had to kiss her to make her stop. Valentina wanted to push away but she couldn't. She pulled in closer, closer into the kiss. After a while, the two pulled away gently.

"I…I think…I'm ready. I want to always be with you, Jaime Reyes. I'm ready."

"You're positive?"

"Yes…I…I love you. I see it now."

Then they kissed again. Back at the Cave, Mirabella had returned, only to take four steps in before Garfield intercepted her.

"Oh, hey, Gar. I was just-"

His urgent kiss stopped her cold in her sentence.

"Garfield?" She questioned the sudden sign of affection.

"You know I love you, right?"

"Yeah. Garfield…what's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I—I don't know. I've got this bad feeling like something's going to happen."

"Don't be scared. I know that as long as you're around. Nothing can hurt me. Everything will be okay. I promise."

Then they went to their shared room to sleep, but the ominous sense of forbidding filled Mirabella with dread. She got out of her bed and climbed into Garfield's bed, snuggling close to his body, only wake him up.

"Mirabella? Are you alright?"

"I'm scared. I didn't want to be alone."

Garfield sat up, Mirabella against his chest. He leaned behind her, grabbing his phone, and sat back up.

"We could watch some _Hello Megan_ on my phone."

"Okay!" Mirabella said excitingly.

Later that night, Jaime's family had gone, Valentina and Jaime watching a movie on the television. They were having a nice time when a knock echoed off the front door. Jaime sighed and stood up, answering the door.

"Dude, what are you doing?"

"Jaime…Who is it?" Valentina's voice called from inside the house.

"It's Impulse…"

Valentina rushed to the door, behind Jaime.

"Impulse…What the heck are you doing?" Valentina questioned.

"I'm here to hang, chill out, spend a little down time with my buddy the Blue, the BB, the Bee-tle."

"And put our secret identities at risk?"

"_The Impulse is trouble. Destroy him._"

"Over reacting won't help any." Valentina said.

"Totally. Hey, don't beat yourself up. I'll never get used to this so retro secret identity thing. I mean, what's the point of hiding how crash we are? Besides, I brought Solara with me."

"If you don't know, then I can't explain it." Jaime said.

"Hey, sis…"

"Solara? You too?"

"Impulse dragged me along. Feel like getting out?"

"Do you know it! I mean…no offense, Jaime, but I do like to be kept inside."

"It's fine. Let's just get out of here before anyone sees us." Blue said as his armor formed around his body.

Valentina ran back in and, in a few minutes, ran back out in her uniform.

"Ready."

Blue picked up Thorn, while Solara held onto Impulse and they flew/ran off. In the middle of nowhere, Blue was blowing up giant boulders, trying to impress Impulse…and Black Thorn. It wasn't really working since both girls were leaning against a giant boulder in boredom.

"Is that the best you can do?" Impulse teased.

"No!"

Then Blue sonic blasted a giant boulder, bigger than the other ones, but forgot the girls were leaning against it. They jumped out of the way before it blew up.

"Hey! Watch it, Blue!" Solara shouted as she started to stand up.

"Oops…sorry."

"Ah!"

"Val!" Solara shouted as she ran over to her sister. "Thorn? Are you alright?"

"Yeah…But my foot's caught under some of the rubble."

"Hold still. I'll get you out of there." Blue said as he formed a dozer and lifted the rubble off of Thorn. "Are you alright?"  
"Yeah…Thanks."

"Top that hermano." Blue said, returning to their original contest.

"Not bad, not bad. The boulder's definitely feeling the mode, but one thing I've learned in the future amigo is that it's easier to destroy…than to create."

Then Impulse moved the small rubble pieces around before stopping where he began.

"Ta-da!" He said.

"_The Impulse has created nothing. And it's premises faulty. Tactical destruction is more effective than creation._"

"Um…Ta-da what…exactly?" Thorn asked.

"Curb the attitude, get a little altitude, hermano and hermanas."

Blue and Solara flew up in the air, while Thorn was lifted up by a vine. And yes, Solara figured out how to fly with her powers. When they got up in the air, they looked down and saw how Impulse made his figure out of the rubble.

"Impulse…by Impulse. Is that totally crash or what?" Impulse called up.

"Crash…totally crash." Blue called down to his friend before Tuppence Terror rammed the three out of the sky and into the ground.

"Solara!" Impulse shouted as he tried racing toward her, but slammed into Tommy Terror.

Then a ninja girl they didn't recognize in orange and black came out, tied up the girls and caught Impulse in a net. The Terror Twins were holding Blue still until Icicle Junior froze him.

"Blue! No!" Thorn shouted as she came too.

Thorn made a vine cut through the ropes, distracting the attackers long enough for Blue to break the ice and Impulse to vibrate through the net.

"Let's get out of here!" Solara shouted.

"Yeah, but how did they find us all the way out—Oh…I got it. Be right back."

"Impulse, wait!" Solara grabbed his arm. "Be careful."

Impulse kissed her.

"I will. Be right back." Then Impulse raced up a cliff and got a device from Aqualad before racing back to the others. "Let's book!"

"Booking!" Blue said as he picked up Thorn and flew after Impulse, Solara following close behind.

Entering the Cave, the four cheered as they had thought they escaped their attackers.

"We left them in the dust!" Thorn cheered before bumping into someone behind her. Turning around, she saw Nightwing. "Oh…hey Nightwing."

"Who did you leave in the dust? And what is that?" Nightwing asked as he pointed to the device Impulse was holding.

"We were attacked by Aqualad and…I don't know who else." Solara replied.

"It was Aqualad, the Terror Twins, Icicle Junior, and a ninja girl I didn't recognize." Blue answered.

"They were tracking Blue with this. I swiped it so they couldn't follow Blue again." Impulse added.

"So you brought foreign, possibly alien, tech into the Cave? Rookie mistake." The four looked disappointed with themselves. Nightwing sighed heavily. "Give it here." Impulse gave him the device. "Stay on alert until I'm finished scanning this device."

Back in Mirabella and Garfield's room, they were watching _Hello Megan _when a knock echoed off the metal door. Mirabella started getting up when Garfield stopped her.

"I'll get it." He smiled.

Garfield flipped off the bed and opened the door to a punch in the face and knocking him out.

"Garfield!" Mirabella shouted as she ran over. "You're gonna be in big trouble for knocking him out!"

Then Mirabella's eyes glowed, Stardust attacking Tuppence, who knocked out Garfield.

"Garfield…Garfield, wake up. Please…?" Mirabella sobbed.

Tuppence got Stardust off and put an inhibitor collar on Mirabella, who fainted along with Stardust.

"Huh…guessin' the pup is attached to the mutt." Tuppence said as she grabbed the three over her shoulders.

Back in the command room, Nightwing was still scanning the device.

"Ugh! I'm an idiot!" Then he turned around, only for Super boy to be thrown at him, also knocking over Solara.

"No! Solara!" Impulse shouted before turning back.

Thorn threw a vine at Tommy Terror and it broke as he gripped it.

"Ugh! My vine!"

Blue grabbed her and flew up as Icicle Junior started icing the floor.

"Oh…this one's a classic! Ice over the floor and the speedster can't get traction, right?" Impulse said as he ran up and knocked over Icicle Junior. "Wrong." Then Tuppence walked in with Gar, Mirabella and Stardust. "That worked so nice I think I'll try it twice."

Then Impulse ran down, bouncing into Tuppence and knocking into Thorn, who was set down a while ago. After getting up, Impulse charged at Tuppence again, only to be thrown at Tommy. Impulse tried to punch him, no effect.

"My hands…What are you made out of?"

"Snips, and snails, and puppy dog tails." He answered as he wrapped an inhibitor collar around Impulse's neck.

"Oh…I'll just vibrate right out of this…No speed. I'm moded, aren't I?"

Tommy then punched Impulse, sending him flying and landing on top of Solara. Impulse passed out. Thorn was so scared; she didn't know what to do. She just got up and, while dodging the attackers, ran for the exit.

"She's getting away!" Tommy shouted.

"Leave her! We will get her soon enough." Aqualad said.

Blue sonic blasted Tommy while Nightwing got up and started fighting the ninja girl, also getting an inhibitor collar on him. He was shocked, weakened. Blue was about to attack again, but Aqualad threatened their lives with a bomb, the same bomb from Malina Island months ago. Not wanting to kill his friends, objection of the scarab, Blue surrendered and was taken as well, leaving Super boy and Nightwing behind. Thorn watched from the woods, the one place she truly felt safe from danger, and did nothing to help, even after she found out that the bomb trigger was a hoax. She was just too scared to go alone at them. All she was saw was Blue being taken, believing her sisters were still inside. After a while, she saw Nightwing and the S-cycle escape with Super boy and Wolf. Thorn thought it was all safe and started running over. Just as she was close, the Cave blew up behind her, sending her to the water's edge.

Inside the flyer, Blue Beetle was passed out from an Atlanian spell and a sedative to the chest. The other four had started to groan awake.

"Anima…Are you alright?" Garfield asked.

"Ugh…Where are we?" Mirabella questioned, scared.

"We've been captured." Solara groaned.

"Are you alright?" Impulse asked.

"Yeah…I'll live. Wait…Where's Thorn?"

"She must still be in there." Anima said, the four not paying attention to Aqualad.

"Do it." Aqualad ordered.

"Are you sure?" Tigress, the ninja girl, questioned as she removed her mask.

To Aqualad, it was really Artemis, but to everyone else, it was Tigress.

"Do it." Aqualad ordered again.

Tigress sighed heavily, pressing a button. After a moment, the entire Cave blew up in explosive heat.

"No!" Mirabella shouted.

"VALENTINA!" Solara screamed as tears fell from her eyes. She turned up at Aqualad. "You'll pay for this! You won't get away with this!"

"Val…and our home…gone…" Mirabella sobbed.

"It'll be okay, Mirabella. I'm here. It'll be okay." Garfield said.

"Get them into the pods." Tigress ordered.

"Pods? No…Aster…"

"It'll be okay, Mirabella. Just do what they say…for now that is. We'll get out of this…" Aster replied.

Then they were forced into pods for the rest of the trip.


	16. Valentina's Truth Revealed

Chapter Sixteen

_**Valentina's POV:**_

At first, I could feel the heat of the bomb burn through my clothes. But then the pain suddenly disappeared as I saw a bright light. It reminded me of Aster, so I called out her name but no one replied, yet nothing did escape my mouth. I opened my mouth and I could suddenly feel pain shoot up my back like someone was stabbing my spine. The light disappeared, my vision becoming clearer as I saw someone who called me sister.

_**Regular POV:**_

"She's coming to…I think." Mal said.

"Move!" Super boy shouted as he landed next to Valentina's body.

Mal moved back before going to help Nightwing, who almost drowned. Super boy gently held Valentina's head up as she groaned in pain.

"C—C—Conner? Is that you?" She questioned.

"I'm here, Val. You'll be okay."

"Conner…I—I—I can't…feel my…legs…"

"You got burned pretty badly, Val. Hold on. We'll help you."

"My…My sisters…Where are they? Where are…my sisters?"

"Aqualad took them."

"I…only saw…them take Blue Beetle. The must be here."

"Mal checked, Val. They aren't here."

Valentina gasped for air as tears filled her eyes.

"Conner…Aqualad is going to die."

"We have to get you out of here first, Val."

Valentina gasped for air before passing out.

_**March 24:**_

Valentina was awake, in the medical bay of the Hall of Justice. Super boy was watching over her. Needing to take a break, he stepped out to talk to Nightwing and M'Gann.

"How is she?" M'Gann questioned.

"Well, she's definitely got a temper. More than I do. But she's healed nicely with her powers." Super boy replied.

"She can heal with her powers, too?"

"Too? What are you talking about?"

"Solara healed her leg a couple weeks ago with her powers."

"The girls must've acquired healing abilities with their powers." Nightwing concluded.

"She wants to go in, Nightwing. And…I don't think we can stop her…no matter what." Super boy told his leader.

Nightwing sighed heavily.

"I'll send her in…but with M'Gann."

"Why with me?"

"You'll be getting them back. You'll take Thorn in as well. If she goes in with Robin and Batgirl, they'll spot her." Nightwing explained.

"Alright."

"But…I need to talk to her first. I get the feeling there's something she needs to tell me." Nightwing said before walking in Valentina's room.

He closed the door and sat in the chair Conner occupied a little while ago. Conner and M'Gann left to report back to the rest of the team that was left on Valentina's health status. Inside the room, Nightwing went from the chair to sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Valentina?" Nightwing questioned as he gently touched her arm. She turned to him, anger and sadness expressed across her face. "How are you feeling?"

"H—How am I feeling? How the heck do you think I'm feeling? My two sisters have been taken captive! My home is gone! I got burned severely!"

"You've healed though." Nightwing tried to joke.

"That doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt!"

"Okay…Okay. I understand what you're feeling."

"How could you **ever **know what I'm feeling?! How?"

"**Because **I lost my whole family!" Nightwing shouted, scaring Valentina a little.

The two fell silent as they tried to regain themselves.

"Nightwing…I'm…so sorry."

"It's not your fault. No one really knows about it."

"Wh—What happened…to them?"

"It's not important."

"Nightwing…please…"

He sighed as he adjusted himself on the bed.

"Alright…but you have to promise not to tell anyone, got it?"

"Promise."

"Alright…I was nine years old. We were a family in every sense of the world."

"Well…don't sugarcoat anything. Geez…" Valentina smiled.

"Sorry."

"Come on! I wanna hear!"

"Alright…Well…there was my mom, dad, uncle, aunt, my cousin John and…me."

"As Nightwing?"

"Actually…This is silly. My real name is…Richard _Dick _Grayson."

"Grayson? Like…**the **_Flying Graysons_?"

"Yeah…How'd you know that?"

"I found some old videos online! Where do you think I've been learning my moves?"

"I thought they looked familiar."

"Yeah…but I never knew what happened to them."

"Well…it was the happiest time of my life, until the worst night of my life happened. A crime boss by the name of Zucco was trying to extort money from the circus. The problem was that Mr. Haley ran an honest business and refused to pay. As for all great acts, we had our signature move. I always asked to join it but my dad said it was too dangerous since I was still pretty young, and there was no net so he didn't want me to get hurt."

"But you had the best seat in the whole place! Right up there!"

"Yeah…it was pretty amazing…Anyways, I was watching for the hundredth time. Then…it happened. You could feel the air being sucked from the tent…followed by complete silence. Then a scream. It's funny actually; I didn't hear much of anything after that. Everything went tunnel vision. A lot of things happened after that. Most of them were a blur, even if I concentrate now, I don't think I would be able to say exactly what order things happened in. The next crystal-clear thing I remember is…Bruce Wayne. Bruce went through the same trauma so he took me in. We worked together…trained together and we brought Zucco to justice, and Robin was born after that."

"Robin?"

"I was Robin before I was Nightwing, Valentina."

"Oh…Wow…I'm so sorry, Nightwing…At least you got the jerk."

Then there was silence between the two, just for a short moment.

"You're turn, Valentina." Nightwing pointed.

"Huh?" Valentina questioned, snapping from her thoughts.

"I told you my story. Now…it's your turn."

"Oh…right…It started when I was born actually. A simple girl born into a rich family."

"Rich?" Nightwing smirked.

"Don't do that, okay? I wasn't happy."

"Alright, alright. Continue."

"Alright…so the first seven years of my life weren't so bad. I got everything I wanted when I asked for it. Then I turned eight. It was my first day of first grade and I learned about animals and plants. I threw up after finding out what I had been eating for seven years. So I turned into a vegetarian. I learned all I could about plants. After my parents found out, they basically disowned me…being meat product sellers anyways."

She paused, starting to drift to sleep.

"Valentina…?" Nightwing said, gently touching her arm again, getting her attention again.

"Huh? Oh, right. Sorry. So I went to sleep one night when I was about ten years old. I was extra sleepy that night. Then the next morning, I woke up and the entire house had been emptied except for me and my stuff. When I found out they had left me, I tried finding them. Then I found out they had crashed on a highway, dying on impact. I saw it on the news while I was wondering around town." She paused to yawn. "The next thing I knew I was trapped in this weird place and I felt like a rose being stomped on continuously."

"Do you remember anything after that?" Nightwing asked.

"Aster says not to talk about it ever again."

"Valentina…if there is anything we need to prepare for, you need to tell me."

Valentina fell silent, turning of her side, her back to Nightwing.

"I'm tired." Valentina said.

"Alright. I'll let you get some sleep. If you ever want to talk, just call me down."

Then Nightwing left Valentina alone. As soon as the door shut, Valentina started crying as quietly as she could, remembering all that happened to her and her sisters before they escaped. She missed them terribly and the separation between them burned like wildfire. Super Boy heard her crying and practically broke the door in his haste to enter. Seeing him looking so shocked with the unhinged door in his hands made her laugh weakly.

"You okay?"

"Yeah,…I'm as okay as the door."

"Thanks for rubbing it in…"

"You're welcome."

After a brief silence, Super Boy broke the silence when he asked her a startling question.

"Do you really want Aqualad dead?"

"You're being serious?"  
"Lethally so, and yes, I did make a pun for once."

Valentina sighed.

"Not really. No one truly deserves to die. It's not real justice that way."

"Good. I'm mad too, but I don't think I'd be able to kill him after…"

"I heard. Don't worry about it. Were you worried I'd try to take revenge on my own?"

"I was worried that if something went wrong, you'd try to kill him, and if you succeeded, I wouldn't know how you'd handle that guilt."

Valentina shivered at the thought of actually killing Aqualad. Imagining the blood on her hand… it gave her nightmares just thinking about it.

"Revenge isn't worth it." Super Boy said before walking over and pulling her covers up to her neck. "Try and get some rest for now."

"Okay…" Valentina said as she turned to her side.

"Goodnight…sister."

"Goodnight…brother."


	17. Before The Dawn and Solara's Revenge

Chapter Seventeen

_**March 30:**_

__In the basement of the Hall of Justice, the team was meeting to hunt down the rest of the team, going undercover as runaways being trapped at docks in Star City.

"Here's the plan: Robin and Batgirl, you'll go undercover with Bumble Bee. Miss. M, you'll…"

"I'm here." Valentina, in uniform, interrupted as she walked in the room.

"Black Thorn? I thought you were still recovering from the blast at the Cave." Super boy said in surprise.

"And miss out saving my sisters…and boyfriend? Forget it! Recovery can wait!" Black Thorn snapped as she fixed her mask.

"I thought you might say that. That's why you'll be going in with Miss. Martian." Nightwing smirked.

After Nightwing finished with his plan, the team dispersed. Later on, in the bioship, Black Thorn had been dressed for underwater swim. They were following a ship that Robin and Batgirl had been loaded onto as their cover as captive runaways. Arriving to a large ship that had been hidden in the water, the bioship hid behind a large rock structure.

"That ship has the same alien design sensibility as the bombs that destroyed Malina Island _and _Mount Justice." Nightwing said.

"It kind of reminds me of Blue's armor." Wonder girl pointed.

"That's because they are the same. Nightwing…these are the same people who captured my sisters and I."

"Thorn…why didn't you…"

"I was scared!" She snapped before turning back around, away from him. "I'm sorry."

Nightwing walked over, gently resting a hand on her shoulder.

"You sure you still want to do this, Thorn?"

"Positive. It's time they get what's coming to them." Thorn replied angrily.

"Alright…" He stood up straight again, turning toward M'Gann. "Miss. M? You two are up."

Thorn put on a breathing device in her mouth before following M'Gann out into the water.

"Alpha squad, we're heading inside the alien ship. Are you aboard?" M'Gann questioned through telepathy, which is how they communicated the entire time.

"We're in some sort of docking bay. And we've got bad news, Aqualad's here. If he makes us we're be done for."

"Stay whelmed. He won't be looking for you." Nightwing replied.

Later on, M'Gann and Thorn made it to one of the labs. Anima, Solara, Impulse, and Beast Boy were unconscious inside separate pods.

"We found Bart, Gar, Mirabella, and Aster." M'Gann reported.

"No sign of Jaime or La'Gaan." Thorn added.

"We've got eyes on Lagoon boy…and Shimmer? Plus, four civilians and all the teens we came with." Batgirl reported before the strange attackers left the room. "We're unsupervised now, but there's still no sign of Blue and an escape could trigger a response. Do we wait?"

"Negative Alpha. Make your move before you need rescuing too. You too, Miss. M and Thorn. Get our boys and our girls."

Thorn tossed a few seeds on the floor in front of her sisters' pods. Then M'Gann and Thorn broke open the pods, an alarm screaming overhead as the pods shattered. Thorn hugged her sisters in relief that they were alright.

"Valentina?" Anima groaned awake before gasping in realization. "You're alive!"

"I'm alive…I'm alive, Mirabella."

"Oh…are you alright, Valentina?" Solara questioned as she hugged Thorn.

"I'll be even better once we get the heck out of here." Thorn replied.

"Thanks for the save. I'll find Blue!"

"Impulse, wait!" Solara shouted as she grabbed onto his arm and started running with him, both disappearing from the room.

Anima groaned a little, her head in a little bit of pain. Beast boy, talking with his sister, realized Anima, and went around his sister, kneeling next to Mirabella.

"Mirabella, you okay?" He asked as he hugged her.

"I'm okay, Gar…I'm okay."

Garfield pulled away a little before kissing her. Then they started for the docking bay.

"Stay with me." He told her he pulled her with him.

"Okay…" Anima smiled. "…like I would ever leave you."

As M'Gann, Black Thorn, Beast boy and Anima were rushing toward the docking bay, Aqualad had started rounding the corner, stopping as the other three came to a halt as well. Anima and Thorn stepped back a few, scared of who he was to them.

"Anima, what's wrong?" Beast boy questioned.

"He's the one who helped capture me and my sisters…" Anima said shakily.

"He's also a murderer!" M'Gann shouted as she started to probe Aqualad's mind. Impulse and Aster had been running at Impulse's high speed, making everything stand still in a way, searching for Blue Beetle. As they ran into the fifth or sixth room, they finally found him, only to be in the middle of being tortured. Aster let go of Impulse so he could knock out the scientist at the controls, while she freed Blue from the pod he was currently trapped inside of.

"I've got'cha, Blue." Solara said as Blue fell into her arms.

Impulse came over, taking one of Jaime's arms around his shoulders, and Solara on the other side.

"Blue, I have to tell you something, and I need to tell you now. Aster, since you're here…you might as well hear this too." Impulse started.

"Impulse…Whatever it is…I can handle it. You listened to me, and now I will listen to you." Solara replied.

Impulse smirked slightly before it faded into a heavy sigh and started. Back with the other four, M'Gann fell to her knees in shock and realization of what was going on behind the team's back after probing Aqualad's mind.

"No…" She whispered so no one could really hear it.

Mirabella and Thorn helped M'Gann as Tigress ran in, helping Aqualad. Beast boy changed into a tiger and started for the two, but only to be stopped by a smoke bomb going off, allowing Aqualad and Tigress to escape.

"_Count yourself lucky, boy._" Tigress's voice echoed as the smoke cleared.

Changing back, Beast boy returned to the girls.

"M'Gann?…M'Gann, snap out of it. You did good, you took out Aqualad, but the others still need our help."

As Solara and Impulse were helping Blue escape, Impulse was finishing his story.

"That's how it was…or will be. Somehow the Reach gets you on mode and Blue Beetle becomes the biggest big bad in history."

"N—N—No…I wouldn't…I'd never…"

"Except you do. And that's the real reason—Well, the main reason—I came to the past…to stop you from betraying the human race and bringing on the Reach Apocalypse."

"So…you came back to stop **him **from destroying the entire planet? When were you actually planning on telling someone?" Solara questioned.

"I…didn't get that far."

"So you excepted to stop him…all by yourself?"

"I didn't really plan too much! I just wanted to come back and stop him!" Impulse shouted before realizing what he did, seeing Solara hang her head, a silent tear escaping her eye.

"Oh…that's **all **you wanted to do. Then…"

It ran down her cheek and fell to the floor, Impulse watching its trail, as she spoke to him.

"Solara…I'm sorry…Yeah, I came back to stop him, but…I never excepted to…fall in love…with you."

Solara's eyes popped open and she looked at Impulse in surprise. Did he really love her? It wasn't all a trick or pity he was giving her? No, she knew then that it was for real.

"But I would never…" Jaime started up again, returning their attention back to him.

"Except you will…"

"Unless we can stop it." Solara ended.

"No! I'm not letting you get mixed up in this!" Impulse argued.

"It's too late! You told me why you were really here, now I'm gonna help. There's nothing you can say or do to keep me away from this…or Thorn for that matter."

"No! No way!" Jaime snapped. "She **can't **know about this. I don't want her to think that I could hurt her."

"But Blue…"

"No, Solara…No one tells Valentina. This stays between us until we can figure something out." Blue argued as his armor appeared.

As they finally reached the rest of the team, Anima and Beast boy were sitting on the floor, Anima crying. Blue walked over, kneeling in front of Anima. She stopped for a moment, only to jump into his arms.

"Everything's going to be okay, Anima. I promise." He pushed her off, still holding Anima's shoulders. "Stay with Beast boy and Black Thorn. They'll keep you safe."

"Thorn's inside and down, Blue." Beast boy pointed.

"Then just stay with Beast boy. Can you do that?"

"Yeah…But what about you?" Anima questioned, scared.

"I'm going to give them what's coming." Blue groaned as he stood up, opening the locked doors.

Beast boy and Anima tried to help M'Gann while Impulse tried to help to Wonder girl. Thorn was slammed into the wall next to the door, leaving a dent around her. Blue, shaky from the pain he endured, walked over to her.

"Thorn…?" He questioned.

She exhaled sharply, finally passing out from the pain she was in.

"Too bad she will live, little brother. She would have been a great trophy for me. And one way or another, I am putting you back on mode. You are of the Reach, and cannot escape it."

"I have too." Blue groaned.

"_Jaime Reyes, you do not function at full capacity. Suggested tactic: grant me total control of armor and all weaponry._"

"Do it…"

"I'm helping."

"Aster?" Blue questioned, wondering if Aster and Mirabella could hear his scarab like Valentina.

"You look as if you're about to fight Black Beetle on your own. I'm helping. No one's alone on this team." Aster smiled, remembering what everyone had been telling her since she started on the team.

Blue smiled before nodding in agreement. Then Solara started attacking Black Beetle as Blue's scarab took control. Then the two attacked Black Beetle as everyone else got to the bioship, escaping. After a while, Solara got sliced on her left arm, screaming in pain as the engulfing salt water was surrounding her wound, the water from the gap Shimmer made in the wall.

"Aster!" Mirabella screamed from inside the bioship, trying to reach her sister.

"Anima, stop! You could die!" Beast boy shouted as he grabbed her.

"She's my sister! I'm not losing her!"

"Anima, you aren't going to be much help if you get crushed by the pressure of the water!" Mirabella stopped struggling, looking at the floor before Beast boy continued. "We'll save her…and Blue. Right, Nightwing?"

"Right…"

Back in the Reach ship, the two beetles were matched with the plasma guns, pushing Blue and Solara out of the ship. The bioship floated by, La'Gaan getting both of them and bringing them back.

"Solara!" Anima, now wearing her mask to hide from non-teammates, shouted as she rushed over.

Later on, Blue started to wake up, his armor disappearing.

"It's me! It's me!" Jaime shouted.

"Of course it is." Impulse said in amusement.

"Of course…Who else would it be in that armor?" Thorn questioned as she walked from behind and gently giving Blue a kiss on lips. "I was worried about you, you know."

"I was worried about you too. How you doing?"

"I could be better, but I am better than Aster right now. Her arm was hurt pretty badly."

"She'll be okay?"

"Yeah, just some stitches. She couldn't heal for some reason though. It worries me pretty badly that she couldn't."

"Mission accomplished team. Great job." Nightwing said as he started to stand up. "Care to take the controls, Miss. M?"

She didn't respond. Everyone else didn't see it, but Mirabella and Conner knew something was wrong.

"I think she's still basking in the glow of victory. She totally nailed Aqualad. You should've seen it. Actually, there wasn't much to see, but I'm sure it was bigger inside their heads."

As everyone returned home, the ones who stayed at the Cave were resting at the Hall of Justice. Garfield rested on a couch, Mirabella walking in a moment later.

"Oh, hey, Mirabella. How you—Ah!" Mirabella dropped herself into Garfield's arms and cried. "Mirabella, what's wrong?"

She didn't answer. Mirabella just cried. Garfield pulled her close and tried to calm her until the two fell asleep. M'Gann and Karen walked in to check up on them.

"Oh, they're sleeping, M'Gann." Karen said.

"Aren't they cute?" M'Gann questioned as she got a blanket from one of the cabinets. "I'm glad Garfield's dating her."

"He is? I didn't know that."

"I didn't either, until he kissed her back on the Reach ship. I guess they've been dating for about two months or so now."

"Wow…you don't think it's _influence _thought, do you?"

"What? No…Mirabella wouldn't do that. Nightwing's trained her not to use her powers on the team unless necessary. Just like he and Aqualad told me when I first got here." M'Gann explained, going back to that day as she covered her brother and his girlfriend with the blanket.

"We've got a big day tomorrow. Let's let them sleep." Karen said after a long moment.

M'Gann nodded in agreement and the two women left the young boy and girl to sleep on the couch.


	18. Cornered

Chapter Eighteen

_**April 1:**_

Black Thorn was watching the news at the Hall of Justice, waiting for the rest to come get her.

"…hiding their true agenda from **you, **the people?! Don't why you're surprised folks. Besides, most of your heroes wear masks!"

That's when Thorn threw the remote at the television screen, the remote now stuck in the glass of the screen. That's when Nightwing came in with Mal, Wolf, Conner, and M'Gann.

"Black Thorn, everything alright in here?" Nightwing questioned.

"What does Gordon know about the League anyways?! I mean, doesn't he think we wear the masks to protect people like him?! Ugh!"

"Whoa…calm down, Val. What are you talking about?" Mal questioned.

"The news! I was just watching the news and…and…and…UGH!"

"Calm down, Val. We'll handle everything. As soon as the Reach are gone, and are shown to be the real threat, everyone will see everything as it should be." Nightwing said.

Valentina turned away, mumbling, "Yeah, like that's easy."

Conner walked over, resting a hand on her shoulder, getting her attention.

"Come on. Nightwing found a place for us. We're gonna go check it out."

Valentina sighed before following her friends. Back in Taos, Blue Beetle, Impulse, Solara, La'Gaan, Anima (with Stardust under her chair), Beast boy, and five teens were being questioned by Black Canary at Star Labs. Solara's arm was wrapped up in a thick medical tape where Black Beetle had sliced her arm. A quick drumming was echoing in the hallway, Impulse being impatient. Blue stopped him, only to cause Impulse to convert to tapping his foot.

"Impulse, settle down. You're too panicky." Solara whispered to him.

Before he could protest, the door opened, Tye walking out and sitting where another teen, Virgil Hawkins, was sitting.

"Tye…" Blue shouted as he stood up.

"_Hold, Jaime Reyes! The Tye Longshadow doesn't know us in this form._" The scarab said.

"Tye…Time to stretch! Yep, gotta stay limber." Blue saved as he sat back down.

Anima just hit her head with her hand, in a _nice save _kind of way. As Valentina, Nightwing, Conner, Mal, M'Gann and Wolf approached an old warehouse in Bludhaven, Valentina was already thinking of how Aster and herself would be able to cope to living in such a small space, but even smaller with the others inside as well.

"Nice…Perfect cover for our new digs. On the outside it's downright nasty." Mal said, happily, and then they walked inside, the smile disappeared from his face. "And it's nasty on the inside too. April fool's right? I mean this is the team's new HQ? Where's the secret trap door to our real base?"

"No secret trap door. And it's not our new HQ. For the time being, we'll operate out of the basement of the Hall of Justice. This is just a place to crash. A very temporary, stop gap place to crash for those of you who were actually living at the Cave." Nightwing explained before Mal could say anything else.

"It's fine." Conner replied.

"Wolf seems to enjoy it just fine." Valentina added as she pointed upstairs to the couched area.

"Sorry for the lack of privacy, girls. This curtain will have to do for now. But we'll figure something else out." Nightwing explained.

"Uh-uh. No way. I am out. I'm heading for the Hall to make other arrangements, my friend." Mal said as he started for the door.

"You should go along. Pick up the boxes of your stuff we salvaged from the Mount Justice. Maybe it'll make this warehouse feel more like a ware-_home_."

Just as the others left the building, Valentina walked over to Nightwing.

"Nightwing…I wanted to apologize for not saying anything…about the Reach. I was just scared and I didn't know how the team or the League would treat me after finding everything out."

"Valentina…it's alright. And for the future, it doesn't where you're from and what you've been through, as long as you are not against justice, you're a part of this team, this family."

Valentina smiled before hugging Nightwing.

"Thank you…Thank you so much." She whispered.

"You're welcome, Val."

Then she let go racing out of the building, but then she turned back around, running back over to Nightwing.

"Um…Aster and I might try to make other arrangements as well. It's not that this place isn't great or anything, it's just…we don't do well in small spaces, and it'll be even smaller with the others here."

Then Valentina raced back out of the building, going to the Hall of Justice with the others. After they arrived they started gathering up the boxes of their belongings, help from Zatanna and Captain Marvel. In the middle of gathering the boxes into the lobby of the Hall, a mystery voice called inside.

"Greetings and salutations, Earth champions!"

Captain Marvel and Zatanna ran out to check to see what was going on, a small robot floated down to them before continuing.

"I am L-Ron, majordomo of the great master. And you are my prisoners."

"This is Plastic man's April Fool's joke, isn't it? Okay Plast, you got us."

"No…I have you." Then the small robot pressed a button on his arm, a red shield formed over the entire Hall. "Though, not for myself of course. Rather for my master, who seeks to prove himself against Earth's greatest warriors!"

Captain Marvel looked up at the tall figure that now stood there in a questioning manner, only to cause the tall figure to kick Marvel through the entrance of the Hall.

"Let the cage match…begin! No fooling." L-Ron announced as if he were waiting for cheers before continuing. Then he floated behind Zatanna. "Magic user, master."

In the middle of one of Zatanna's spells, Despero showed a third eye on his forehead, and somehow stopped Zatanna from reactions. Then Despero smashed through the doors, stomping into the Hall.

"Allow me to introduce my master, the war world Despero!" L-Ron said. "The champion of 92 star systems. Working on 93 now. He has come to this back water planet seeking a challenge, to prove his superiority of all life forms. It's quit the honor."

"Oh, I am honored. Here, let me show him." Marvel said before he jumped at Despero, only to be smashed into the ceiling of the Hall by his challenger.

The rest of the team was watching from the basement before Super boy and Bumble bee left to join the fight. M'Gann and Thorn stayed behind with Mal to hear the situation.

"Uh…Force-field around the Hall is blocking all com-links, zeta tubes are down too. We're on our own." Mal reported.

"Then let's beat this guy." Thorn said before she rushed out to go help with the fight.

Back in the lobby, the three emerged to fight.

"Bumble bee, check on Zatanna. Thin head's…"

"…ours…" Thorn finished.

Super boy looked over his shoulder, smiling at Thorn, glad she's here to help. Bee flew out of the Hall, trying to wake up Zatanna, only to fail and also fail at trying to free them from the force field. Thorn was trying to tangle multiple thick vines around Despero, but he kept crushing them, only to walk closer and closer to Thorn, throwing her into a statue. Super boy continued to struggle through the fight against Despero, only to keep getting beat at every attempt. The army had arrived later to try and blast the field down, but it was another failed attempt as it stayed around the Hall of Justice.

As Super boy fought, he was thrown through a statue that ended up landing on him and trapping him on the floor. Thorn, who grabbed a pipe, ran at Despero, trying to hit him with it. She kept missing him with every shot, then after a while, she swept his feet, causing him to fall backward on the ground.

"Ha…Now I got ya…Ah!" Despero grabbed her with one fist, starting to squeeze her slowly.

Mal and M'Gann ran in, Bee joining them. M'Gann took the fallen statue on Super boy and threw it at Despero, causing him to let go of Thorn.

"Uh…" Thorn groaned before running over to the others. "Thanks, M'Gann. You really saved me."

Despero tossed the statue rubble of Wonder woman's head at M'Gann and Mal, only to miss. Then Captain Marvel flew back in, smashing Despero into a wall.

"Come on, Miss. M! You gotta brain blast him or something!" Mal shouted.

"No…!" M'Gann replied, still terrified of what happened inside of Aqualad's head a few days ago.

Super boy, Bumble bee and Black Thorn ran over to help just as Marvel was smashed through the idol manikins of Leaguers from the past. Marvel tried shocking Despero by changing himself back into Billy Batson, but it was no use. Then Despero showed his third eye, stopping Billy's reactions, just like Zatanna. Then Despero growled lowly at his majordomo.

"Uh…yes, Master. You will require a new opponent." Then the others ran in the room. "Ah…there, Master. That one wears the symbol of Superman, one of Earth's mightiest champions."

Back in Taos, Black Canary had just finished talking with Impulse, taking La'Gaan to question next about the abduction. As soon as Black Canary disappeared inside the room again, Blue Beetle and Solara pulled Impulse around the corner, catching Anima's attention for only a second, then she went back to leaning on Beast Boy.

"What'd you tell her, ese?" Blue asked in worry.

"About you betraying man-kind and causing the Reach Apocalypse."

Solara slapped her hand on her forehead.

"Impulse…" She groaned.

"Aw…Nada, amigo. See, I have no idea what actually turns you."

"So, for all we know, the League finding out could be the very thing that makes it happen." Solara finished.

"Right! And I say, we say nothing to no one."

"_This is good. Now kill the Impulse and the Solara before they can change their minds._"

"Keep quiet." Blue said, actually talking to his scarab.

"Exactly…Stick with us, Blue."

"And we'll keep you from feeling the…uh…mode, right?" Solara questioned.

"See? You're getting it." Impulse replied.

Solara smiled before noticing that around the corner, Anima was hiding.

"Oh, no…"

"What?" Blue asked before looking behind him and seeing Anima.

She jumped a little, scared of what they were just talking about.

"Anima…it's okay." Solara soothed.

Anima nodded and ran over to Blue, hugging him tightly.

"Blue…are you gonna turn evil?"

"No, Anima…I'm not going to turn evil. I could never do that."

"I wanna help keep Blue from turning evil too."

"Anima, I don't you to get hurt." Solara said.

"He's my brother! And I wanna help! Besides…watch this."

Anima climbed up on Blue's back and placed one of her hands on the scarab.

"_What is the Anima attempting to do?_"

"Anima, be careful." Blue warned.

"I will be. I did it before, remember?"

Then a slight glow emitted from her eyes and hands, Blue's scarab weakened a little, making him fall on his knees.

"Oops…sorry. That was wrong. Hold on." Then Anima did it again, Blue regaining his strength. "There…That should it."

"What is **it**…exactly?" Impulse questioned.

"She has control over the scarab's strength and weaknesses now. Because she can call on animals whenever she needs them, she can control them and learn all about them just by slightly touching them for a moment. She kind of got the cool powers of the three of us." Solara explained.

"You got a cool one too, Solara. You can attract light from anywhere and punch Poison Ivy into a wall! You're strong!"

"Thanks, Anima."

Back in Washington, D.C, M'Gann and Black Thorn had gotten Bee and Super boy to safety while Mal, dressed as Guardian, had taken too distracting Despero and L-Ron as Earth's greatest and most powerful warrior.

"How could you leave Mal up there alone? Get your Martian mind in the game." Super boy said.

"Nothing I've thrown at the alien telekinically has had any effect. And I can't attack him psychically. I just can't."

"You did it to Aqualad, why not this guy?" Thorn asked.

"I just…can't." M'Gann sighed.

"Then don't. But do something." Super boy said before, Thorn following, ran off to help.

"Uh…How are we coming up on that plan B?" Mal thought to the other two.

"Coming right…up!" Super boy replied, same way, as he jumped up and pulled Mal and Despero through the ceiling above him.

M'Gann tried to get the _blindfolds _off of Karen, Billy, and Zatanna's minds. Black Thorn tried to help the guys, but it was no use. Despero looked over his shoulder at her, growling in annoyingness, before lifting her up again.

"Ah! Let me go!" She screamed as Despero started to squeeze her.

Then Despero looked down at Mal, Super boy in his other hand, and saw that Zatanna had used a spell to copy Despero's power on the third eye, dispending Despero nonresponsive now and letting go of Thorn and Super boy.

"Super boy, I've used M'Gann's psych link to possess Mal and turn the alien's power against him. Although, I don't know how long it'll last."

"Long enough!" Super boy said.

He went to punch Despero but stopped when a vine wrapped around Despero and threw him through two walls and stopping at the third wall. M'Gann, Mal, and Super boy looked behind them to see Thorn's black eyes die down to their natural dark green eyes.

"What? I wanted to hit him. I think he broke a few of my ribs." Thorn groaned as she stood up and fell on her knees again.

The rest ran over and tried to help her up, but not before L-Ron floated down.

"Cheaters! Sneaks! Frauds! You will all suffer for your crimes!"

"What crimes, wire head?" Thorn questioned.

"Thorn, shut it!" Super boy snapped.

Then Billy jumped down, hanging onto L-Ron.

"Let's try this again. SHAZAM!"

Then, from the lightening that changed Billy, destroyed L-Ron into pieces. Then L-Ron's head started shouting _poor sportism_ before detonating the Hall into rubble. Zatanna, who was outside, flew up in the air and came back down to help her friends who were all safe. The force field didn't go down though.

"Why are we still trapped? L-Ron's gone!" Thorn said as she banged on the shield.

"Together!" Captain Atom shouted as he and Captain Marvel tried punching at the same point of the field, no effect.

That's when the Reach Ambassador came, a device in hand. Thorn stepped back, standing behind her friends.

"He won't hurt you, Thorn. Not with witnesses around." Bee said.

"The Ambassador isn't the one I'm afraid of…it's the other guy…He's my father."

"Your dad's the Secretary of United Nations?" Super boy questioned.

"Yeah…He can't know I'm part of the team."

That's when the shield, trapping them, shut down and the Ambassador mentioned the Watchtower on news, claiming it accidental but really purposefully mentioned. After a while, after the Ambassador and others had left, Captain Atom pulled Thorn aside.

"Um…Am I…in trouble?" Thorn questioned, nervous of the answer.

"You should have told at least Nightwing about who your father was. Thorn…why didn't you tell anyone? Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine…I just…" Thorn sighed heavily, knowing she can't hide her entire past forever. "I wasn't left at the house. I wrote a note saying I was running away and…then I fell asleep in the basement. My dad…he must've gone out to find me and when I woke up…all the stuff was gone. I…didn't know what happened. I fell asleep one day and…woke up a week later. I'm sorry."

"No…it's fine…But you need to be honest with me…with the team especially. When you've got your story straight, Thorn…I'd like to hear it."

Thorn was surprised; she was caught in a tangle of her lies. She hung her head in defeat.

"Okay…"

"Good…Now…get going."

"Yes, sir…You won't tell Nightwing, will you?"

"Until you tell me your true background…No, it'll be between us."

"Thank you, Captain."

He smiled and Thorn ran off to the others. M'Gann left to stay at her uncle's apartment, instead of at the **temporary **living space for them. Unwashed socks were not her thing. A metal knock echoed inside.

"Aster…Come in. You don't have to knock." Nightwing said.

"Thanks, Nightwing. Uh…Listen, Valentina's…"

"Staying with Blue…I know. She sent an email. I guess that leaves one girl."

"Two…actually."

"Garfield!" Mirabella shouted as she ran over to hug him.

"Mirabella? What are you doing here?"

"I…I missed you. Staying at Jaime's is okay, but I'd rather stay with you."

"And…Aster?" Conner questioned.

"I'm staying. Someone's gotta keep an eye on Mirabella…especially when she's living with her boyfriend now." Aster joked.

"Aster! I thought you said you weren't going to joke about that!"

"I'm sorry. It slipped out. I couldn't help it."

"I'm…going out." Conner said as he left the warehouse.

"Be careful!" Mirabella called.

"What was that?" Garfield questioned.

"I try to always say that now when someone leaves. It's a little reminder. I mean…especially for us, all the danger we put ourselves in to."

"Huh…Noted."

Mirabella giggled, still loving that part of Garfield.

Later in Taos, Black Canary and Nightwing were meeting about the abductees with two scientists from the labs, Thorn had come in as well, being an abductee and practically begging to be inside. Captain Atom finally let her in, knowing she could be of some help to the situation.

"The Reach used our own secrets against us. Beat us without firing a shot. Even offered to take Despero off our hands. And I couldn't come up with a reason to say no."

"The Reach's Ambassador is slippery. He can be…tricky to read at times but if you wait for the right moment…he'll get caught. It just…isn't the right time yet." Thorn conformed.

"Why is she here again?" Black Canary questioned.

"Because I let her in here. She has background on the Reach. Background and dirt we can use against them."

"I'm not so helpful as background as I am from details I've gathered from being trapped inside." Thorn pointed.

"That's plenty." Nightwing assured.

"Well, I hope Black Canary's got some good news." Captain said.

"Some answers…at least. I don't know if Thorn knows what they're true purpose is."

"I…do not. I'm sorry. All I know is they put teens through a series of tests, and after a while they produce these…powers. Powers like Anima, Solara, and myself have gained originally from the Reach themselves."

"Well, with the obvious exception of Blue Beetle, the Reach abductees are of two types. Those with a **known **super power, and those with the **potential **to develop one. I believe we now know what a metagene is. A genetic anomaly that allows certain humans to adapt to new survival abilities when exposed to trauma. The Reach, I think, plans to cultivate the gene and weaponize it."

"So…in other words, the Reach wants to develop these powers, pull them out and weaponize the genes for their own use?" Thorn questioned.

"Which is what brought the Reach and Kroloteans here in the first place all thanks to the Light sending the League to Rimbor and putting Earth and it's heroes square in the galactic spotlight." Nightwing added.

Before anyone could continue, the door knob twisted and the door swung open. Blue Beetle walked in.

"Blue? What's going on?" Thorn questioned.

"I'm sorry. I've been hiding something, but I can't…I just can't…"

That's when Impulse rushed in, trying to stop Blue.

"Uh…Blue, Blue, Blue…What happened to **keep quiet**?"

"_Stop, Jaime Reyes! This is a tactical error._"

Thorn walked over, overhearing the scarab, pulling Impulse away.

"No…Impulse…" Thorn looked at Captain Atom. "There's no time for secrets anymore. We need to be honest with each other. Go on Blue."

"It's time for the truth. Impulse says that sometime in the future I betray the Earth and bring on a Reach Apocalypse."

"Blue…? Impulse!" Thorn snapped.

"I'm sorry…It's…true. From the time I came back from, the future was a Reach Apocalypse. That's the main reason I came back, Thorn. I'm…sorry."

"No…" Thorn whispered as she backed up into the bookshelf.

"That's a future I can't live with. So…whatever it takes, get this scarab off me." Blue said as the armor disappeared.

Everyone was in shock of what they heard. Impulse ran over to help Thorn, who slid down the shelf to the floor in terror and sadness.

"Alright…Let's go start with some tests." Black Canary said.

Thorn pushed Impulse off, stood up, wiping her stray tears away.

"I want to help."

"Thorn, no…I don't want you to get hurt."

Thorn covered his mouth with her whole hand.

"Shut up…I'm helping if it's the last thing I ever do, Reyes." Thorn snapped before heading out the door.

Impulse set out after her, pulling her over to the side of the hallway.

"Thorn…I'm sorry. I…"

"Shut up!" Thorn screamed as she pushed Impulse into the wall across from them. "You don't understand! You could _never _understand! A Reach apocalypse is **nothing** compared to what I have been through all my life!"

"Hey! It wasn't easy for me, alright? Do you know how hard it was to even get here?"

Thorn grabbed him by the collar of his uniform, face-to-face.

"You don't know what it was like for me, growing up. I can't even begin to tell you where I fell in the category of despair." Thorn hissed before dropping Impulse on the floor and walking away.

"Man…she's really messed up." Impulse whispered.


	19. Valentina's Lavender

Chapter Nineteen

_**April 3:**_

Another day in the new _home_, it was cold and damp inside the warehouse, not that the girls weren't used to it. Aster groaned as she attempted to pull some more blankets up on her and Mirabella.

"Aster…Wake up…"

"Ugh…" She groaned as she slammed her pillow over her head.

"Aster…come on, sunshine."

Aster sat up, rubbing her eyes groggily before looking at who had woke her up.

"Bart…? What are you doing here? I told you I would meet you in Central City at eleven." Aster groaned as she face-first into her pillow.

"It's noon and your phone is off."

Aster sat straight up, surprise and shock overcoming her reaction. She pulled her clock off the side table and it read 12:05 in a bright yellow light.

"What the…? I set it last night. Guys…who touched my clock?!" Aster called, receiving no reply. "Hey!"

"Aster…nobody's here. They're either at the Hall re-gathering everything left or on a mission." Bart said.

"Oh…I guess I'll just ask them later." Aster said as she got her slippers on and walked over to the open bathroom. She was wearing a pair of baggy pajama pants and a tank top, her hair was nearly perfect, a few tangles here and there.

"That's the thing…I turned it off." Bart confessed sheepishly.

"What?" Aster questioned as she poked her head from the door, toothbrush in her mouth. She poked back into the bathroom, only to have the sound of spitting into the sink echo out before she poked back out. "Why did you—**When **did you…?"

"I was here for a while…since nine actually. I was waiting for you to wake up, but it got to be noon and I was getting bored, so…I woke you up."

"Why'd you come here, anyways? I told you I'd meet you."

"I know…I got up early and was bored."

Aster walked over, sitting next to Bart on her bed, and gently touched his face.

"You get bored easily…Do I have something to worry about?"

"No! I mean…never…I could never get bored with you."

"I hope not." Aster kissed him shortly before returning to the bathroom to finish getting ready. "Hey! I'm gonna take a shower! Don't you dare come in here!"

"I won't!" Bart replied, laughing.

The shower water started up in the bathroom, and so did some light music. Bart walked over to the door, standing against the wall on the outside of the bathroom, listening to the music. It was sad and slow, then he heard lyrics but it wasn't the original singer, it was Aster.

"_My face against the window pane, a tear for every drop of rain._" Then the slow music started a little faster, Aster continuing to sing. "_I am so lonely, and so sad. You're the reason I'm feeling bad. I'm so lonely and so sad. Living in a dream I never had. My face against the window pane, a tear for every drop of rain. I'm living like already I have died…have died…Emptiness a present past. A silent scream to shatter glass. I have to go, it's time for me to fly…_"

"You know…that's a little depressing of a song." Bart called inside.

"Ah! Bart! I told you not to come in!" Aster screamed out to him, the music going dead.

"I'm not in the bathroom. I'm outside the bathroom against the wall. I'm not even looking inside." It became silent. "Is that how you really feel right now?"

"What?" Aster questioned.

"The song you were singing…Is that how you really feel?"

There was a long silence before the shower water shut off and the sound of the rings of curtain slid across the curtain rod.

"That song…I wrote when I was little. I was…" Aster trailed off before she stepped from the bathroom in her towel.

"I know…" Bart finished before another silence trailed between them.

"Could you…hand me the clothes on my bed? I forgot to bring them in with me." Aster questioned as she pointed to her bed.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure." Bart said as he rushed over, grabbed the clothes and rushed back over.

"Thanks…" Aster said as she took the clothes and returned to the bathroom to put them on.

After a long while, there was a sound of a wet **slopping **sound and then a thump sound.

"Aster?" Bart called, no response. "Aster…are you alright?"

There was still no reply, just a sobbing sound. Bart turned into the bathroom, Aster fully clothed now. She was lying on the ground, Bart rushing over and kneeling next to her.

"Aster…are you alright?" Bart questioned.

Aster just turned on her side, away from Bart, and cried stiffly. Bart brushed her hair gently, not seeing anything serious. Aster cried loudly, glad no one else was around. She really hated crying in front of everyone. Bart turned Aster back on her back and held her up, hugging her closely.

"You're gonna be okay. No one can hurt you anymore." He whispered.

Elsewhere, Anima was helping with the rubble at the Hall. She was helping Beast Boy search for items they could salvage.

"Oh, there's something." Anima said after Beast Boy had lifted a heavy stone out of the way.

Anima had picked up a piece of zeta tube, no bigger than her hand.

"Nevermind…" Anima groaned as she tossed the metal aside.

Beast Boy set the heavy stone down on the ground before changing back, landing on his hands and knees. Anima rushed over, kneeling next to him.

"Beast Boy? Garfield, what's wrong?"

"I'm tired…Really tired."

"Here, lean on me. I'll help you get to a place to sit and rest."

He groaned as he stood up, but slowly walked with Anima to the steps, sitting down.

"Take a break. I'm gonna go tell your sister what's going on." Anima said before starting to run away, Garfield catching her arm.

"Anima…wait." He groaned lightly.

She walked back over, squatting next to him.

"What's wrong?"

"Thank you."

Anima smiled before giving him a peck on the cheek.

"You're welcome." She said before running to get M'Gann.

El Paso, Texas, Valentina had snuck out to go skating. Her true past flashes in her eyes as she skated by unopened stores and empty sidewalks. After a while, she skated to an empty parking garage, stopping inside an elevator to go to the top. Just before the doors completely closed, a hand stopped in between them, the doors reopening. Valentina turned around from the window.

"Jaime?" She questioned.

"Hey…Heard you leave, so I grabbed my sweater and board, and followed you."

"Just needed some air, is all." She said as she turned back around, wiping an escaped tear away.

"Val…" Jaime placed a hand on her shoulder, seeing the tear. "I don't know what to say right now."

"If you have nothing to say, then don't say anything at all. It's one of my many rules."

"Rules?" Jaime chuckled. "You have rules?"

"Yes. One of my old friends and I made them up when we were little. I haven't seen him in the longest time though. I wonder how he's doing."

There was a bit of silence before the doors to the elevator opened on the top of the garage, overlooking El Paso in silence.

"Why'd you come here?" Jaime questioned as he followed Valentina out of the elevator.

"I like the rush of going down." She replied, her voice hard.

"Huh…I'll have to remember that." Jaime smiled.

Val, seeing his smile, smiled back before pecking him on the cheek.

"I…will see…you at the bottom." Valentina said as she started. "Last one down is a rotten egg!" She called.

Jaime realized he was distracted, then hopped on his board and followed Valentina through the garage, catching up shortly afterward.

"You cheated!" Jaime called, jokingly.

"Not my fault you can't keep up!" Valentina joked back.

"I might be able to keep up…if you told me the truth!"

Valentina shot her head, looking at Jaime, and didn't see the crack in the ground. She tripped over the uneven ground and rolled down to the middle of the lane just as a car was turning the corner. The car wasn't going to stop as Valentina became blinded from the headlights, like a deer in headlights. Just as the car was about to smash Valentina, Jaime skated behind, pulling her out of the way. The car continued up the garage before halting in a spot. The driver ran to them, worry spread across his face.

"Oh, are you two alright? I was coming around the corner and I didn't expect anyone here at this time of day." He explained.

"I think we're okay. Val, you okay?" Jaime questioned.

Valentina was in shock, still like a deer in headlights against the wall.

"She okay?" The man questioned.

"Probably just shook. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Again, I'm really sorry."

"It's okay."

Then the man left for the elevator. Jaime turned back to Valentina, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Val? Val, you gotta snap out of it!"

She didn't respond to Jaime's shouting, as she usually did. He looked around, seeing a giant, stone flower pot with lavender growing up like long, stiff vines of purple. Jaime walked over, picking one, and ran back over, sticking the flower in Val's face.

"Val…here, it's a…a…Ugh! What is it again?" Jaime questioned in frustration.

"_It is a lavender flower_." The scarab answered.

"That's right! It's lavender…"

Val looked at Jaime, grabbing his sweater.

"How do you know that name?"

"What? Remember, I planted flowers with my family last summer?" Jaime reminded, getting free from her grip.

"Oh…right. Sorry."

She stood up on her feet.

"Are you alright?" Jaime questioned as he stood next to her.

"Yes…No…I don't know." Valentina sighed. "Before you said something about telling the truth, what did you mean?"

Jaime rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to find words to answer with.

"Look…Bart told me what you said to him the other day. You told us your parents left you in a house alone, and you were arrested…but then you say Tseng, the secretary of United Nations, is your father…"

"Tseng isn't my father…Not my biological father at least."

"Val…" Jaime said gently, taking a step closer to her.

"Val isn't…my real name."

"Really? What is your name?"

Valentina walked over to the wall, punching it and leaving a large dent in its stone structure.

"Val!" Jaime shouted in worry.

"Don't call me that!" She screamed as she turned toward him. "Don't ever call me that again!"

Thick, fast streams down her face as she fell on her knees and bent over, holding her arms across her stomach. Jaime ran over, kneeling next to her and hugging her closely. Back in Bludhaven, Aster had laid across the couch, the TV echoing through the empty warehouse. Bart walked up the stairs, a bowl of popcorn and a package of soda in hand.

"Hey…You're awake! How you feeling?" He asked, receiving no response. Aster only sat up, trying to pull her dark hair behind her. "Hey…You okay?" Bart questioned as he sat next to her on the couch, still no response. "Aster…please…talk to me. I'm here to listen, remember?"

She sighed, turning to the side, away from him.

"My head hurts…Is there something there?"

Bart gently touched her hair, pulling some away to see a small bump where Aster had hit it earlier.

"Just a small bump. I'll get you some ice." Just before Bart disappeared, Aster pulled him back on the couch again. "What's wrong, Aster?"

Aster laid her head on Bart's shoulder, hugging him.

"Thank you…"

He smiled gently, glad his girlfriend is alright.

"You're welcome."

Bart leaned forward a moment later, grabbing the remote. Aster took the remote just before he turned on the screen.

"Could we, please, just sit here…together?"

Bart smiled again and nodded in agreement. He didn't like sitting still, but, for Aster, he would sit still forever. Aster put a throw pillow on his lap and laid her head on it. Bart stroked her hair gently, going back a couple of months ago when Mirabella had fallen asleep on his lap at Jaime's house.

"Bart?" Aster questioned, snapping him from his thoughts.

"Hmm? What's up, Aster?"

"I know what Valentina said to you the other day, at Star Labs? I was wondering if you were okay. I know how much you've been through just to get here, to this time."

Bart went silent as the future he came from flashed in his eyes, all the dark, the ash falling from the sky, the collar he had on and the heavy equipment he lifted and carried day in and day out. He smiled again, faking his real feelings.

"I'll be okay. I'm more worried about Valentina though. She won't tell the truth. How are we supposed to trust her?"

"Valentina's trustworthy. She's just…not an open book and we shouldn't pry her pages open. When she's ready to talk, she'll talk to someone."

"Aster!"

"Mirabella?!" Aster called in question.

"We need some help down here!" Nightwing's voice called.

Aster and Bart ran to the edge, seeing Garfield being put on a cot. The two rushed down the stairs, now seeing Gar twisting and turning violently.

"What's wrong with him?" Bart questioned.

"I gave him some water and then he started screaming. I don't know what happened." Anima replied as she took her mask off.

Aster touched his forehead gently before quickly pulling her hand away.

"He's burning hot! He'll need ice to keep it down…" Aster said.

"Know what you're doing?" Nightwing questioned.

"Valentina had this same virus. I need ice…NOW!" Aster snapped.

As the team were taking care of Garfield, Jaime and Valentina had returned to his house, no one home again. Valentina sat on the couch and Jaime went to sit in one of the two chairs. He bent over, resting his elbows on his knees, and staring at Val in wonder and frustration, as much as he trying not to.

"What?" She questioned.

"…I need to know your name, since I can't call you…that other name anymore."

She sighed, knowing she was defeated. She pulled loose strains of her hair behind her ears before looking at Jaime.

"My real name is Lavender Annarose Manson."

Jaime held her hand gently.

"That is a beautiful name for you."

"No, it's not!" She shouted before standing up. "My father killed my family…in front of me! He kidnapped me and changed my name to Valentina! He chained me in a cave and didn't come back! I was taken by the cops when they found me, and when Tseng tried to take me in, I ran away! Then Black Beetle kidnapped me and I got these stinking powers over plants! You really think it's a beautiful name when it's been soiled and ruined by your father?!" She screamed.

Then she sat back down, burying her face in her hands and started crying. Jaime sat next to her, holding her close again. Back in Bludhaven, Aster had left the room for only a short while, only to come back to a duck/eagle/hawk/hummingbird morphing fly overhead.

"Garfield?!" Aster shouted.

"He's morphing like crazy! We can't pin him down! How did Val have **this**?!" Bart shouted as he tried to catch the animal morpher.

At the moment, Garfield turned into a fish and began to flop on the bed.

"Be a mammal! Be a mammal!" Mirabella shouted at her boyfriend.

Garfield then turned into a whale and crushed Bart into the floor.

"SMALLER MAMMAL!" He struggled to shout.

Then Garfield turned into a small skunk. Mirabella ran over, picking him up.

"Aw…he's so cute!" Then Mirabella held him away, noticing the smell. "Less cute…Gar, couldn't you turn into a mammal that didn't stink to keep predators away?"

Then he squeaked, Mirabella hanging his head in an _of course _way.

"What'd he say?" Conner questioned.

"He can't help it." Mirabella groaned as she set Garfield on the cot again.

"Here, this should help him." Aster said, holding a syringe full of a clear liquid with crushed up pill inside.

"Is that the same thing you gave Valentina when she was sick?" Mirabella questioned as she pointed to the syringe in slight fear.

"Yes…Now, Garfield, hold still. This won't hurt a bit."

Just before Aster stuck the needle in Gar's side, Mirabella changed into a wolf cub, standing in front of Gar in protection.

"Mirabella, not this again." Aster groaned.

Mirabella growled lowly before Stardust jumped up on the cot, whimpering at Mirabella. Mirabella stomped one of her front paws and tried to bite Stardust. Stardust dodged and laid down in front of Mirabella, turning on her back and whimpering playfully.

"Aw…Stardust…you want Mirabella back, huh?" Bart questioned as he rubbed Star's belly.

Star rolled back over, starting a play fight to distract Mirabella. While she was distracted, Aster stuck Gar with the needle and emptied its contents into his system, Gar changing back into his normal.

"Whoo…Thanks, Aster. I feel much better now."

"Feeling better is much different than actually being better. Get some rest." M'Gann said as she had Gar lay down.

"What about Mirabella?" He asked.

"Mirabella, come here, girl!" Aster called.

Mirabella stopped the play fight to jump onto Garfield's cot, licking him.

"Mirabella…okay…okay…" Garfield giggled. "That's enough…You can change back now."

Mirabella cocked her head questioningly.

"C—Can't you change back?" Garfield questioned.

Mirabella squirmed from his arms, rolling into a small ball next him. Garfield laid on his side, stroking her fur.

"Why can't you change back, Mirabella?" Garfield questioned, falling asleep.

Meanwhile, at Jaime's house, Jaime suddenly kissed Lavender on the forehead, shocking her out of her crying.

"Jaime?" She questioned, looking up at him.

"Lavender…why are you always so negative?"

"What?"

"Why would you think I'd care more about your father than **you**?"

"Well…I—I…"

"You did **nothing **wrong Lav. Listen to me. I care about you and I'm here for you. What happened in your past in behind you now, and now…you have brighter future and present to look forward to and experience. You have more than one family who love you for _you _and a team full of people who would help you with almost anything you need. Don't cry."

"…Jaime…" Lavender said shocked.

"Besides, haven't you read Shakespeare? What is a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. That and…Lav is Val spelled backwards."

"Jaime!" Lav shouted happily as she threw a pillow at him, which he caught.

"Feeling better though?"

"Yeah…thank you. I thought…"

"What? I'd hate you…or be mad?"

"Well…yes."

"You should say no, because you know how I feel about you."

"Do I?"

Jaime leaned forward, gently kissing her on the mouth. After a long moment, he pulled away just as gently.

"You should now."

Lavender blushed profoundly, smiling afterward.

"Let's relax a little." Jaime said as he turned on the TV to _Disney's Peter Pan._

Lavender laughs as she snuggles close to Jaime.

"Look at his pose." She giggled.

"That's the classic hero pose my friend…I mean, girlfriend." Jaime replied as he stood up on the couch and mimicked the pose.

"Don't fly away on me now." Lavender said.

"I believe I can fly!" Jaime shouted as he jumped off the back of the couch, crash landing on the ground.

"I believe…it's time to change the channel."

Jaime sighed as he stood back up, jumping back over the couch next to Lav again.

"Fine…" He huffed.

Then the TV showed the royal family on the news.

"Hail to the queen!" Jaime said as he mimicked the wave the queen was doing.

Lavender laughed harder.

"Stop it!"

Then Lav's laughter was stopped short as Aster's ringtone started vibrating through the table. She picked up the phone, Jaime stopping shortly after.

"_Valentina…get to base now! Mirabella's in trouble!_" Aster's voice called through the speaker.

"I'm on my way, sis."

"_We're _on _our _way." Jaime smiled as his suit appeared.

"Thanks…"

Then Jaime scooped her up and they flew to the nearest zeta tube.

**C19G13M: Okay so...yeah. Here's Chapter 19 and now Valentina's name throughout the story is going to be Lavender, Lav, Thorn or Black Thorn.**


	20. Aster's New Life

Chapter Twenty

_**April 3:**_

Lavender and Jaime rushed into the base, seeing Mirabella as a wolf cub sleeping next to Garfield on his cot. She walked over to the bed, gently brushing her sister's fur, Jaime standing behind her and holding her by her shoulders.

"Valentina!" Aster said as she ran over, hugging her sister.

Lavender pushed her older sister off, almost knocking her over.

"Don't call me Valentina!" She shouted.

"Whoa…Val, I…"

"No…my name isn't Valentina, or Val, anymore. It's time to tell you the truth…" Nightwing walked down the stairs. "It's time to time to tell everyone the truth…"

Later on, after Nightwing had called the entire team and Captain Atom, except for Garfield and Mirabella, Lavender explained her past, Jaime helping her in some parts. Afterward, everyone was either disappointed, mad, shocked or all three, yet no one said anything.

"I'm…so…sorry I didn't tell you before. I was…scared." Still no one replied. "Can someone please say something?!" She questioned.

"Va—I mean…Lav, I guess, I don't think anyone really knows **what **to say." Aster said as she sat next to her, Bart on the arm of the couch.

Lavender looked up at Captain Atom, him not looking at her or even toward her. She was worried about him the worst.

"Cap?" Lavender questioned.

He looked at her at the sound of his nickname. He covered his mouth, frustration overcoming him. Captain Atom just sighed after a moment.

"I…just don't understand why you didn't tell us. Did everyone here really seem that shallow as to kick you off the team just because of what you went through?"

"Well…No…I was just scared…of you…and Nightwing."

"Why them?" Robin questioned.

"Well…being adult men…you know…?"

"Makes sense, but Lavender…we would **never **hurt you. You've got to believe that."

"I _know _that now."

Then everyone left, feeling better that Lavender finally told the truth about herself. Aster hugged Lavender closely, sighing heavily.

"Oh…I am so sorry…I can't believe what you've been through." Aster said before pulling away.

She elbowed Bart in the leg.

"Ow…Uh…Yeah, now I understand what you meant the other day at Star Labs."

"Oh…Bart…I completely forgot I said that. I'm so sorry. It wasn't right of me to say that to you, I mean…all you had to do. Can you ever forgive me?" Lavender questioned as she hugged him.

"Of course I can, Lavender." He replied, hugging back.

They let go, laughing.

"I feel so much better now that I've gotten it off my chest." Lavender said as she plopped back on the couch.

"Good…Hey, Lav…I came up with a song yesterday for you."

"You did? Can I hear it?"

"Sure…_ Today, today you wanna run away now. You break, try to keep it together. Love, love is all you need. You're a queen but you're never no match. Cuz life has come and left you blinded, stole you smile and left you crying. It's not your fault; shame is all you've got now. Your heart's tangled up in silence. It's time to let go, and feel the light. I know it's easier to hide, but you gotta let go. Feel the light, let go and feel the light. Be brave, brave, the water's all around you. I'll stay, I'll keep you from sinking down. Love is on your side, it's stronger than you'll ever know. So many years of quiet, building up like a fire inside. You're feeling like you gotta let it out now, just let it out. Your heart's tangled up in silence, it's time to let go. Feel the light. I know it's easier to hide, but you gotta let go. Feel the light, let go and feel the light. How did you get here? You're locked inside of all this fear, inside you're crying out. Your mind's at war, get out and live for more, there's so much more. Live for more. Your heart's tangled up in silence, it's time to let go. Feel the light. I know it's easier to hide, but you gotta let go. Feel the light, let go and feel the light. Brave, brave the water's all around you. I'll stay; I'll keep you from sinking down._"

Lavender hugged her sister in happiness and tears falling down her face.

"I loved it…I do feel the light. Thank you, Aster. It was so beautiful."

"You're welcome, Lavender." Aster said as she hugged back.

_**April 5:**_

Mirabella had changed into a wolf cub almost two whole days ago, but still hasn't changed back. Everyone was getting worried…

"Come on, Mirabella. You can change back. You're human." Especially Garfield, who was beginning to think Mirabella would never be the same again.

He had been telling her the same thing for the past two days, hoping Mirabella would change back, but it was no use. Mirabella had begun to act a lot like Wolf and lay on the couch, sleeping. As cute as it was having the three wolves sleep next to each other, Garfield just wanted his girlfriend back. Garfield walked back down to the sleeping area, pulling out a box from underneath his cot and setting it next to him on the soft bed. He dug around in it until he pulled out a picture. It was partially burnt, but you could clearly see it was himself and Mirabella on the day he showed her the art studio he had set up for her. He remembered all the fun they had together. Mirabella jumped up on the bed, climbing on Gar's lap half way, placing a paw on the picture of herself as a human. Garfield looked down at her, smiling.

"That's you…when you were human." Mirabella rubbed her head against Garfield's hand. "You can't remember yourself…can you?"

Mirabella stopped rubbing her head, lying next to Garfield, and whimpered. Then Garfield popped up with an idea. He went into the box again, Mirabella lifting her head slightly. After a moment, Garfield pulled out some paints and partially burnt brushes. Opening the paint, Gar put a little (bright yellow) on one brush and some (red) on another brush. Garfield laid one on the bed next to Mirabella, who eyed it carefully before looking at Garfield. The next thing Mirabella knew, she had a blob of yellow paint on her nose. Garfield giggled slightly before Mirabella took the other brush and splattered red paint across Garfield's face. He wasn't mad though. He just fell back, laughing crazily. Mirabella jumped down, licking his ear, the only part of his face that wasn't covered in paint. He stifled his laughter as he rolled onto his stomach, becoming eye-and-eye with Mirabella, both gently smiling.

"Sorry…it's something…just something we used to do together."

Mirabella whimpered, then took the brush Garfield had, drawing a bright yellow-orange-ish line along the middle of his face. Now Mirabella had fell back, laughing, Garfield joining in soon afterward. Aster and Bart, who was staying over with Aster, walked in after hearing all the laughter. They stopped dead in their tracks at what they saw.

"Mirabella!" Aster shouted as she ran over, hugging her now human again sister.

Garfield stopped laughing and turned up at Mirabella. He shot up in a sitting position and hugged Mirabella tightly, Aster moving out of the way.

"Mirabella…don't ever scare me like that again."

"I…I'm sorry, Garfield. I…" Mirabella pulled away. "I don't know what happened to me. I was worried and scared and the next thing I knew, everything went dark." Mirabella crashed herself into Garfield, who held her. "I'm sorry…I'm so…sorry." She sobbed.

Garfield instantly held her tighter.

"It's not your fault, Mirabee…It's okay."

Mirabella lifted her tear streaked face up, and looked into her boyfriend's eyes. She looked a little like a frightened puppy, which she was only a few moments ago.

"Really?" Mirabella questioned.

"Hey, I know you like Star, but you'd never stay that way forever."

"Thanks…" Mirabella laughed quietly.

"Guys…Look!" Aster called from the television area.

The three ran up the stairs, and saw the cause of Aster's surprise. Wolf was carrying Star in his maw like a baby. Then he plopped the wolf cub on the couch, curled around her and they slept together, like an older brother and little sister kind of way.

"Aw…Stary…You're so cute!" Mirabella said, and then rubbed the back of her neck. "Huh…My neck hurts all of a sudden. All well…I'm sure I'll be okay."

"Let me check…just to make sure?"

"Huh? Sure, Garfield."

Mirabella turned around, pulling her hair out of the way. Garfield gently touched the back of her neck, seeing a slight red mark that looked like teeth. Mirabella turned back around.

"Well? Is there anything there?" She asked.

"Um…actually, yeah, it's all red and it looks like there's teeth marks."

"Let me see." Aster said as she ran over and looked at the back of Mirabella's neck. "Huh? He's right. Bart, can you get some of my lotion? It's in the box under my cot."

"Sure." Bart ran down the stairs, coming back a split second later with a small lotion bottle in hand. "Here you go."

"Thanks…" Aster said as she squirted some on her hand. "Mirabella, I'm putting lotion on your neck. Stay still."

"Okay, Aster." Then Aster rubbed the lotion on the back of Mirabella's neck gently, as not to hurt her. "It's cold!"

"It's lotion, Mirabella, of course it's cold." Aster snickered. "There…That should help some."

"Thanks, sis. It does feel better." Mirabella smiled.

Then Garfield and Mirabella went to find the other teammates that stayed there to tell them the news, leaving Bart and Aster alone in awkward silence.

"So…?" Bart said, breaking the silence.

"So…It's great Mirabella's back, huh?"

"Yeah! It's awesome!" Then the silence returned. "Well…my great-grandparents are probably worried. I told them I was staying here, but I better get back there."

Bart was about to disappear until Aster grabbed his hand gently.

"Bart…wait…"

"Huh? What's up, Aster?" Bart questioned as he walked back over to her.

"I…I…" After a moment, Aster crashed herself into Bart's arms.

"Aster, what's wrong?" Bart questioned as he hugged her tightly.

"_I try but I can't seem to get myself to think of anything but you. Your breath on my face, your warm gentle kiss, I taste the truth, I taste the truth._" Aster brushed her lips against Bart's, teasing the fact of a kiss coming. Then she spun away. "_We know what I came here for, so I won't ask for more. I wanna be with you, if only for a night, to be the one who's in your arms, who holds you tight._" Aster hugged Bart again, Bart spinning her into his arms."_I wanna be with you, there's nothing more to say. There's nothing else I want more than to feel this way. I wanna be with you, yeah._" Aster spun to the back on Bart, hugging him from behind. Bart blushed slightly."_So, I'll hold you tonight, like I would if you were mine to hold forevermore, and I'll savor each touch…_" Aster gently stroked her fingertips up and down the side of his face."_…that I wanted so much to feel before, to feel before. How beautiful it is, just to be like this. I wanna be with you, if only for the night, to be the one who's in your arms, who holds you tight._" Aster walked, a fingertip underneath Bart's chin, and then wrapped her arms around his neck, Bart wrapping his arms around her waist."_I wanna be with you, there's nothing more to say, there's nothing else I want more than to feel this way. I wanna be with you._"

Then Bart pressed his forehead against Aster's, smiling gently.

"I love it when you sing. I wanna be with you too." Bart said before pressing his lips onto Aster's.

After a long moment, they pulled away.

"Bart…I…I don't want to stay here anymore. I…I feel…alone. I'd rather move in with you." Aster said gently as she stroked his face again.

Bart's smile faded in worry.

"Aster…I don't know. I'm living with my great-grandparents and I think it's enough they have me around."

"Please, Bart? Can't you just talk to them…for me?" Aster questioned.

Bart thought for a long moment before sighing heavily.

"Fine…I'll go talk to them. Wait for me to call you, okay?"

"Okay…Thank you." Aster replied before kissing Bart again.

Then Bart left for his great-grandparents' house, the Garrick's, to ask them if Aster could stay with them. He arrived quickly as expected, and when he entered, his great-grandparents were talking at the kitchen table together.

"Hey grandpa, hey grandma, can we talk?" Bart asked nervously.

"Of course, Bart! What's wrong?" Jay replied happily.

"I-I know that I've been staying over, and I hope that I'm not too much trouble, but can I ask for a favor?"

"Depends on the favor." Joan said smiling.

Bart took a deep breath, and then said all in a rush, "CanAsterstaywithus?"

"What?" Joan questioned, not able to follow.

"He wants his friend Aster to stay with us." Jay translated.

"Oh!" Joan replied before smiling softly.

"So….ummmm." began Impulse, but he was interrupted.

"Yes. She can stay." said Jay. "She can use the guest bedroom across from your bedroom."

"Really? Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou so… much!" he said, fast enough to confuse Joan once more.

"You're welcome?" she said, but her words came out too slow. Bart had already ran outside to go find Aster and tell her the great news.

Back at the base, Aster had laid on her cot, tired from the long day she had. Just as she had closed her purple eyes, sleep taking over, someone gently grabbed her shoulder.

"Aster…Aster, wake up."

"Hmm…? Hmmm…" She groaned as she turned on her side.

A rush of air blew around her as the person ran to the other side, continuously trying to wake her.

"Aster…come on…wake up!"

Aster's eyes fluttered open, Bart standing above her, his green eyes darting down at her purple ones.

"Bart? What are you doing back so soon?" Aster questioned as she sat up.

Bart hugged her tightly.

"You'll never believe this!" He pulled away, a huge grin across his face. "The Garrick's said yes! You can move in with us!"

Aster stood up, holding his shoulders.

"You're not joking with me…are you?"

"Of course not! Aster…they want to meet you. Come on. Grab your stuff and we can get going."

"Thank you, Bart!" Aster said before kissing him quickly.

She grabbed the cardboard box from underneath her cot and folded up her blankets, placing them neatly on the cot she had been using.

"I'm all set."

"Where's your jacket? It's a little chilly out."

"I…I don't have one. My old one was lost in the Mount Justice explosion."

"Here…take mine then." Bart said as he started to take his thin jacket off.

"No, Bart…"

"Please…? I don't want you to get a cold."

"Oh…alright. Hold my box?"

"Sure…" Bart held the cardboard box as Aster slipped on the dark brown jacket Bart had handed her.

"Thanks, Bart…" Aster said as she took the box back.

"Come on…the Garrick's are waiting for us."

"Okay…Mirabella! I'm going to Bart's!"

"Okay! When are you coming back?" Mirabella called from the television area.

"I'll check in on you tomorrow!"

That's when Mirabella ran down the stairs and held onto Aster.

"What do you mean…_check in_?"

"Mirabella…" Aster handed her box back to Bart before bending down. "…I'm moving in with Bart and his great-grandparents. I'll be back every morning to check on you…okay?"

"I'll miss you…" Mirabella said as she hugged her older sister.

"I'll miss you too…But you'll have Garfield here."

"Good point."

"So…we have a deal?"

"Okay…we have a deal."

Aster kissed Mirabella's head gently before Bart and herself left for the Garrick's house. Upon arriving to the house, Bart gently opened the door, thinking his great-grandparents would be asleep.

"Bart…?" Joan's voice called from the kitchen, Jay standing behind her.

"Oh, Joan…Jay…I thought you two would be asleep." Bart replied nervously.

"You…did ask, Bart…right?"

"Of course I did, Aster."

"Bart…who is this?"

"Oh…uh…This is Aster. Aster, these are my great-grandparents, Jay and Joan Garrick."

"It's nice to meet you. If Bart didn't ask, I'm sorry."

"Oh, no. We were just teasing him. Come on in, Aster."

Aster slipped her boots off and put Bart's jacket she was wearing on the rack before walking over into the kitchen, joining the other three.

"Oh, you're soaking wet. Let me get you a towel, dear." Joan insisted as she left the room.

"Oh…thank you." Aster said almost in a whisper.

"What's in the box?" Jay asked.

"Oh…just some stuff the team salvaged from—Oh, man!"

"What?" Bart questioned.

"Do they know?" Aster whispered to Bart.

"Are you kidding? Of course they know! Jay here was the first Flash!"

"Oh, wow…I'm sorry, I didn't know. I…"

"Oh, it's no worry, Aster. You were saying?"

"Oh, right. It's just some stuff the team salvaged from Mount Justice after it was destroyed."

"Bart was talking about that. How's the new place?" Joan said as she handed the towel to Aster.

"It's suitable for a temporary place to stay…" Then Aster held one of Bart's hands and took tried to dry her hair with the towel with the other hand. "…but I'd rather stay with Bart to tell the truth."

Joan and Jay smiled softly as they saw how Aster and Bart looked at each other.

"It's getting late, dears. Bart, why don't you show Aster to her room?" Joan suggested.

"Sure thing. Come on, Aster." Bart said as he pulled Aster, who grabbed her box.

"They remind me of us when we were younger." Jay said.

_**April 6: **_

The next morning, Bart creaked open his eyes from a deep sleep. He would've slept in longer, but the sound of a piano vibrated through the floor beneath his bed. He yawned as he sat up and stretched. Rubbing his eyes, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and walked downstairs. Smelling something cooking, Bart made a beeline for the kitchen table. Just before he sat down, he noticed that someone was playing the piano in the next room and popped from his tired emotion.

"Who's playing the piano?" Bart questioned.

"It's Aster. She's a natural at the piano." Joan replied as she set a plate on the table in front of Bart.

"Aster! Breakfast's ready!" Jay called.

"Coming!" Aster called back, the beautiful music stopping dead before Aster appeared at the table. "Morning, Bart…I didn't except to see you up so early."

"Why would you say that?" Bart questioned, mouth half full.

"Well, Joan and Jay were telling me about how late you stay asleep. I thought you slept longer."

"Here you go, dear." Joan said as she placed a plate in front of Aster.

"Thank you, Joan. Mm…this looks great, Jay."

"Thank you, Aster. At least _someone _likes my cooking."

"We all do, Jay." Joan chuckled, packing a kiss on Jay's cheek.

"Since when are you on first name bases? And I thought the piano was broken." Bart said before taking a bite out of his eggs.

"This morning we were talking and they said it was alright to call them by their first names. And then Jay noticed I was eyeing the piano and asked if I could play." Aster replied.

"So when she said yes, we asked if she could fix it so we could hear something she knew." Jay added.

"Oh, did it wake you?" Aster questioned.

"Uh…nah…I didn't even hear it until I came down." Bart lied, he did wake up to the music vibrating up to his room.

"Good…" Aster said before the four started eating.

"So, how'd you sleep, Aster?" Bart asked, breaking the silence.

Aster, by surprise of the sudden question, swallowed hard.

"I slept great, actually. I don't think I've gotten a good sleep like that my entire life. Oops…"

"Dear, what do you mean?" Joan asked.

"Um…my family wasn't the _best _family in the world." Aster replied as she twirled her fork in the air.

"Let's…Let's change the subject, huh? Aster, why don't we go get you some sheet music before we go check in on Mirabella?" Bart said, trying to change the subject.

"Um...actually...Joan was going to bring me shopping for some clothes to wear. Apparently I can't wear the same dress." Aster replied, trying to joke. "And I called Mirabella this morning. She alright."

"Oh, cool...Can I come?"

"I didn't think a boy could be interested in clothing, Bart." Jay smiled.

"I'm not...I'm interested in what Aster's wearing."

"You've been talking to your cousin too much, you're starting to sound like him." Jay joked.

"Wally doesn't talk like that...does he?" Aster questioned, trying to hold her laughter back.

"Not anymore, but when he was sixteen he always talked like that to all the girls." Jay replied.

"I hope you're not hitting on other girls, Bart." Aster laughed.

"I'm not! I swear!" Bart threw his hands up in defense, but smiling all the same.

"Hmm...So, you two _are _dating...Joan and I was hoping you were." Jay said.

"You were?" Bart questioned.

"Yes, the way you two look at each other is the same way Jay and I looked at each other when we were young." Joan said, holding one of Jay's hands.

Aster smiled and held one of Bart's hands; he just smiled back at her.

"Well...we better finish eating and get going, dear." Joan said.

"Oh, of course." Aster started taking another bite and then sighed. "Before we leave...can I play the piano again?"

"Of course, Aster. You can play that piano anytime you want. But not for too long this morning."

"Okay...Thank you." Aster said gently, sadness hidden behind it.

Then they finished breakfast and everyone went to get ready, after cleaning up breakfast. All through at breakfast, and the clean up afterward, Bart could feel something was wrong with Aster. He just didn't know how to ask her without spooking her. Aster had playing the piano keys in a soft and gentle song waiting for the others. Her eyes were closed and she was focused on the keys and nothing around her. Bart had walked in the room, listening to the music, and pulled a chair next to her, trying not to spook her. After a while, he gently touched her hand, Aster jumping from her trance of music. She relaxed after seeing who it was.

"Oh, Bart...You startled me."

"Sorry...I just wanted to tell you that we're leaving soon."

"Thanks..." Aster sighed.

"Hey...You okay? You seem like you're moded or something."

"Huh? Oh, right. I...It's just at breakfast; I ended up mentioning my past a little. I guess it's still an open wound."

Bart rested a hand on her shoulder before Aster laid her head on his shoulder. Bart wrapped his arms around her body for a long moment before Aster sat back up. She rested her hands on the keys again, starting to stroke the keys in musical notes.

"What's the song you're playing?" Bart asked as he sat next to her on the piano bench.

"It's called..._Endless Love..._I wrote it last night when I couldn't sleep. I couldn't stop thinking about you across the hallway."

"It's beautiful." Bart smiled.

"Thanks..."

Bart tried to make the same motions at his end of the keys. When he thought he had it, he tried to play the same notes, only to make mistake after mistake. Aster stopped playing and started to giggle as she watched him struggle to play.

"Bart? What are you doing?"

"Uhhhh…" He stopped his playing and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I was trying to play the song with you."

Aster laughed and stood up.

"I know I'm not as good as you are." Bart continued, blushing slightly.

Aster then walked behind him, grabbed his wrists and said, "Let me lead."

She rested her hands on top of his, and then placed their hands onto the smooth ivory keys.

"Close your eyes and feel the music while we play the notes."

Bart obeyed, taking a deep breath, and then exhaled softly as Aster began to move their hands in unison across the cool keys causing the music to make the old instrument echo throughout the house. Joan and Jay stood behind them, watching the two teens play in tandem to the song. When the song finally ended, Joan walked over.

"Are you two ready to go?"

"Oh yeah! We almost forgot." said Aster.

Bart followed the girls out after saying goodbye to his great-grandfather. Getting downtown, the group noticed lots of clothing stores and food plazas.

"Coming Aster?" Bart questioned as Aster was staring at a window display inside of the car when the group was going inside.

"You want me to go in?"

"Sure! They're your clothes to be, chica! Come on."

Aster, excited, practically jumped from the car to go inside. While she searched the isles with Joan, Bart waited outside of the changing rooms for her. After a short while, the girls return, and Aster disappeared into the changing rooms with a few outfits. Not many people were inside of the store, due to the early hours of the day, so Aster played some music on her phone to break the silence. The song _Fashion is my Kryptonite _from Shake it Up started to blare through the small speakers. Aster tried on her outfits, but it was the last one that stood out from the rest. Joan had her model it in front of the three mirrors near Bart. The yellow button up dress shirt with a white camisole, paired with jean shorts and brown boots was quite becoming on Aster.

"Are you sure this is okay, Joan? I don't feel like myself." Aster said as she turned side to side.

Bart stood up and walked around her.

"It's missing something…" he said. Then he snapped his fingers and returned shortly with a light brown scarf. "Try this on."

She put it around her neck questioningly, but he then took it off and used it to tie it around her waist. She blushed as he re-tied it around her, and when he looked up, he noticed her expression.

"You okay?"

Aster's blush deepened as he lightly touched her face.

Smiling she said, "Perfect."

They kissed briefly, and then parted as Joan came over. After a while, and a few more outfits, they left the store with four new outfits for Aster before heading home.

**C19G13M: The two songs in this chapter WE DO NOT OWN! The first one was **_**Feel the Light **_**by Britt Nicole**__**and the second one was **_**I wanna be with you **_**by Mandy Moore.**


	21. Aster's Brother Is--

Chapter Twenty-One

_**April 8:**_

The slamming echo of the piano keys shattered the original peace that filled the Garrick house. Joan sighed heavily and sadly, sitting in the dining room with Jay in the kitchen.

"I knew it wouldn't last…" She told her husband.

Bart rushed in, worry spread across his face.

"Aster?!" He shouted.

Aster's hands were still holding down the keys, her knuckles turning white with pressure.

"I'm fine." She finally let the keys go. "I'm just irritated."

Bart walked over, sitting next to her on the piano bench, and holding her hands gently.

"At what, the piano?" He questioned jokingly.

"No…I've composer's block." She sighed.

"Oh…got'cha."

Aster laughed softly as she began to relax, as she always did when Bart was around. She placed her fingers back on the keys of the piano before looking to her side at Bart, who's green eyes were darting into her purple ones. She smiled softly.

"I'll show you what I have so far, okay?" She said.

"Sounds great, just don't end it with such a bang like last time."

Aster laughed for real before beginning to play the notes of the song she had been writing all morning.

Bart started with, "_Ohh…yeah, yeah_…"

Aster giggled at him as she kept playing.

"_The situation turns around; enough to figure out that someone else has let you down_."

Then the two started together, "_So many times I don't know why_."

"_But I know we can make it…as long as you say it. So tell me that you love me, yeah._" Aster sang alone before the two sang in unison once more.

"_And tell me that I take your breath away. And maybe if you take one more, then I would know for sure. There's nothing left to say. Tell me that you love me anyway._"

"_Tell me that you love me_…anyway." Aster ended the song.

"Keep going. This is great."

Aster stood up, walking over and sitting on the couch, and covering her face with her hands. Bart walked over, sitting next to her, and holding her shoulders.

"Aster…? Aster, what's wrong?"

Aster removed her hands, rubbing her eyes.

"I'm tired…I guess…"

"Why don't you go lay down? I'll check up on you later…okay?" Bart suggested.

Aster nodded before standing up and walking down the hall, closing the door to her room as she walked inside. Bart sat on the couch and watched television for about an hour before there was a rustling noise from down the hallway.

He ignored it until, "AAAHHH!" Aster's scream echoed down the hallway.

Bart, full speed, ran down the hallway and vibrated through the door to Aster's room. She was lying on the ground, her blanket wrapped around her. Bart rushed over, kneeling next to her, and helping her sit up.

"Aster…what happened?" He asked.

"I…uh…I don't know. I…was asleep and then…" Aster started sobbing hard.

Bart quickly held her tightly, trying to make her feel better. After a couple of minutes, the doorbell rang.

"Uh…The doorbell rang, just give me one second." Bart smiled. Aster nodded before Bart rushed over to the doorway of the bedroom and shouted, "Come on in! The door's open!"

Bart rushed back over to Aster, holding her again. They heard the squeak of the old hinges opening and closing with a small click before hearing footsteps walk into the house altogether.

"Bart…Aster? Where are you guys?"

"We're in Aster's room, hermano!" Bart called to Jaime.

Aster stood up, Bart helping her, and she walked to her dresser, trying to fix herself up before the other two walked in.

"Hey…How's it going?" Lav asked, smiling. But her smile soon disappeared as she saw how her sister looked. "Aster…everything alright, sis?" Then Lav got into Bart's face. "What'd you do to her?"

Aster stepped between them, her white blonde hair covering half her face.

"Lavender, no! Bart didn't do or say anything. I…had a nightmare. That's all." Aster said as she pulled her hair back.

"Oh…sorry, Bart. I get protective of my sisters." Lav said as she rubbed the back of her head.

"It's okay, Lav. Understandable."

"Aster…wanna go hang out? Mirabella and Garfield are waiting in the living room for us."

"How'd you get Garfield here without drawing any attention?" Bart questioned.

"Mirabella's really good with paint. Come on, you gotta see this." Lav replied as she pulled the two with her.

Entering the living room, Mirabella was sitting at the piano, looking at the sheet music. Then there was a white skinned boy sitting on the couch.

"Uh…Garfield?" Aster questioned, getting a better look.

He looked up at her, and then hid his face under his cap again.

"Garfield…you look great. Why are you hiding?" Lav questioned.

"Because the paint's starting to come off." Mirabella replied sadly.

"Let's get the rest off, then." Aster said as she lead Garfield to the kitchen.

"Is Aster okay? She looks upset." Mirabella said.

"She had nightmare, Mirabella." Bart replied plainly, not really paying attention.

"Oh…well, after Aster washes Garfield's face off, I guess you guys could go out."

"What? Mirabella, you don't wanna come with us?" Lav asked.

"Where are we going?" Bart asked.

"We were gonna go to a baseball game." Jaime replied.

"And I want to go, but not if Garfield's staying behind." Mirabella replied before she sighed heavily.

The three looked upset about Mirabella and Garfield, and then Bart snapped, an idea in his head.

"I got an idea."

Then Bart rushed into the kitchen, shouting, screaming, and loud rustling echoing out. The other three ran into the kitchen, Aster against the wall as the wind from Bart running in a circle started dying down. Then they saw how he had transformed Garfield into a somewhat normal looking human.

"Bart…how'd you do that?" Mirabella asked as she looked closely at her boyfriend.

"I used some items around the kitchen. Pretty crash, huh?"

"Easier to destroy than to create, Bart." Lav reminded as she waved her hand in a small circle, pointing out the mess Bart had made in the kitchen.

"Oh, this? Easy to clean up. Give me two seconds." Then Bart cleaned the kitchen in two seconds flat. "There, see?"

"This is so cool! My skin looks totally real!" Garfield said.

"Yeah, just be careful. It won't last if you get wet." Bart warned.

"Thanks, Bart."

Then the two boys noticed Mirabella walk into the living room, upset about something. Garfield walked over and sat next to her on the couch.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Mirabella sighed.

Garfield held her hands.

"I know you're lying. What's wrong?"

Mirabella sighed again, her upset emotion being held back.

"Bart was able to make you look human better than I could. I guess I'm not much of an artist."

"Mirabella…that's not true! You're art work is amazing! Just because Bart used…food…to make me look human and you used paint, doesn't mean he's better at art than you are." Garfield carefully lifted Mirabella's head toward him. "You are amazing."

Mirabella smiled and then held the base of her neck, looking for something.

"I forgot…" She said quietly, looking away once more.

"What? What'd you forget?"

"I forgot…the necklace you gave me was lost in the explosion last month."

"It's okay…It was just a necklace."

"It wasn't just a necklace, Gar. It was the necklace you gave me, the necklace you gave me the day you asked me to be your girlfriend."

"It'll be okay…" Garfield said before gently kissing Mirabella. "We're still together."

Mirabella smiled before hugging Garfield.

"I love you…" She said.

"I love you, too." He replied without hesitation and hugging her tightly.

"Ready to go, you two?" Lavender called over.

"Oh, I have to change. I'll be right back." Aster said before running off to her room.

Coming back, Aster had changed into her new outfit of a yellow button up shirt, white camisole, jean shorts, brown boots, and light brown scarf around her waist.

"Oh, wow, Aster. You look amazing!" Lav admired.

"Thanks. Joan paid for it."

"I like how you used the scarf for a belt. It looks really cool." Mirabella said.

"Thank you. Bart actually picked that part out."

He blushed as everyone looked back at him.

"What? The outfit fit needed something."

"Well, I love it." Aster said before she kissed Bart's cheek, making his blush deepen. "Just as much as I love you."

"Come on. We'll miss the game if we don't get going." Jaime said as they headed for the door.

"Wait…How are we even getting there?" Aster questioned.

"Jaime's borrowing his mom's van since he got his…driver's license yesterday!" Lavender cheered happily.

"Really? You passed? Alright, hermano." Bart said, giving his friend a high five.

"Thanks. It wasn't too hard, I mean with all the help I had." Jaime said as he put his arm around Lav's waist, pulling her closer to him.

"I didn't do much. I just made up practice quizzes for you. Nothing much." Lav said as a slight blush appeared across her cheeks.

"Come on! Let's go!" Mirabella cheered as she and Garfield already halfway out the door.

The others followed, Jaime driving them to the stadium. They found their seats and halfway through the game, a security officer walked down the stairs, stopping next to Mirabella. He gently grabbed her arm, making her stand up.

"Excuse me, Miss. Please, come with me." His voice gruff and scary to Mirabella.

Mirabella looked a couple seats down at Jaime; she was so worried and scared she almost whimpered as she spoke.

"Jaime…?"

He looked, seeing what was going on. Jaime stood up and stopped the officer from getting too far away.

"Uh…excuse me? Where are you taking her?" Jaime questioned.

"And who are you?" The officer questioned back.

"I'm her older brother. Where are you taking her?"

"Well, your sister here was caught on video stealing from a gift shop in the food court. We need to question her."

"Wait a second. She's been here the entire game with us. She couldn't have stolen anything." Garfield shouted, grabbing the officer's arm.

"Back off, kid." The officer said as he shoved Garfield off, causing Gar to fall backward on the ground.

"Hey! You can't do that!" Bart shouted before jumping over the seats and tackling the officer.

The officer fought back, grabbing Mirabella before starting up the stairs. Mirabella, under stress and panicking, transformed and slipped down the stairs into Garfield's jacket. The officer looked around and walked over to the others, Mirabella moving around in Garfield's jacket.

"Where is she?" The oblivious officer questioned.

"Not a clue." Lavender replied, lying.

"Fine…Then you five can come with me and watch the game from a special place…called lock up. I'll call your parents to come and get you."

The five followed the officer to the holding cell, Mirabella still hiding from the officer.

"Mirabella, hold still. Nightwing will be here soon." Garfield whispered.

And, as if on cue, Nightwing (wearing regular clothing), Megan, and Conner walked up to the front desk of the office. Lavender covered her face, embarrassment covering her entire body.

"Aw man…Why did they bring Conner with them?"

"What's going on between you and Conner anyways? I thought you were dating Jaime." Aster said as she sat next to her sister.

"Yeah…What **is **going on between you two?" Jaime questioned suspicious of Lavender.

"I am dating Jaime! Conner…" She sighed heavily. "He just treats like a sister and I treat him like a brother. That's all."

"Yeah…and your brother hopes he doesn't have to do this on a regular basis." Conner said in the now open door of the cell.

"Hey, bro…And no, this won't be a regular thing, I promise." Lavender replied as she hugged Conner.

"We were just trying to help Mirabella." Jaime added.

"Who is where?" Nightwing questioned.

"She's hiding inside Garfield's jacket." Bart replied in a whisper.

Then the three walked over to Garfield before seeing how his skin looked.

"Garfield…your skin is…is…"

"It's just food, Megan. Bart's work. It'll come off in the shower. Ow…Mirabee…quit it."

"You…okay?" Megan questioned, trying to hold back laughing at her little brother.

"Mirabee's just scratching me. Can we please get out of here before she claws my insides out?"

"Come on…We've got a mission anyways." Nightwing replied.

After leaving the stadium, Garfield opened his jacket up, Mirabella falling out and transforming back into a human.

"Ugh! Why am I covered in food?" She asked, seeing her outfit.

"I'll explain at Base. Come on." Garfield said.

Back at the Base, the teens met up for a meeting, just finding out that the Reach has paired company with Lex Luthor to make a soft drink and try to end world hunger, the League being dissed G. Gordan Godfrey once again with the same points.

"Obviously, Lex and the Reach working together is bad news, which is why I am sending in a squad to observe. Robin, you're in charge of Alpha."

"Me? In charge of Alpha? Who's on the squad?"

"Blue Beetle…"

"Whoa, I shouldn't be in the field, ese. What if my scarab goes all Reach Apocalypse on us?"

"Your scarab has had several chances to turn on us in the past, I don't think it will."

"_Yes, listen to the Nightwing. He's logic is never mistaken._" The scarab told Jaime.

"Well, if Blue's going, so are we." Impulse said, pointing to himself, Solara, and Thorn.

"I thought as much. And last, but not least, Arsenal. You'll have to go lighter for your-"

"Roy?" Solara questioned, angry.

"You know him?" Impulse questioned.

"Of course I do…He's my brother."

"Aster? I thought you were dead." Arsenal said, his voice more of saracassism than the real surprise underneath.

"Way to stay positive, you good for nothing, son of a-"

"Hey! Is there going to be a problem for the mission?" Nightwing questioned.

"No, as long as she keeps it together." Arsenal replied.

"Ugh!" Solara groaned sharply.

At the Lex Corp company, the hidden squad was on the tour. They sat separately on the tram, Impulse sitting with Solara.

"I didn't know your last name was Harper." He whispered.

"It's not…" She sighed heavily. "Not anymore. I changed it after I…_left_. Can you believe him? Think I was dead, seriously?"

"Don't let it distract you right now. Let's just focus on the mission, okay?"

"Okay…" Solara sighed heavily.


	22. Anima's Training and Aster's Brother

Chapter Twenty-Two

_**April 8:**_

At the Base, everyone had gone their way after Nightwing sent Alpha to Lex Corp. Mirabella and Garfield stayed at the Base, not sure what to do but just hang out.

"Hey, Gar?" Mirabella questioned as she walked up the stairs to the living room area.

"What's up, Mirabee?" Garfield replied, still watching the TV, a commercial on.

"I was wondering…hmm…" She trailed off, nervous and feeling like Garfield really wasn't paying attention, not that he was.

Garfield turned his head toward Mirabella after she stopped talking. Grabbing the remote, he turned off the TV, sound going dead throughout the Base.

"Sorry…What's up?" He said, signaling for her to come sit next to him.

Mirabella walked over, sitting on the couch.

"Garfield…You know how I keep transforming into a wolf cub and I have trouble changing back into a human?"

"Yeah, so? Mirabella, it's nothing to worry about. You'll get the hang of it."

"That's the thing. I was wondering if…you know, you would…help me?"

"Me? Why me?"

"Well, you are the only one of the team who turns into different animals on a daily basis, and you know a lot about all of them…and…you're my boyfriend, and I don't trust anyone but you to help me with this."

Garfield was surprised by this, did Mirabella really only trust him to help her? He sighed after thinking for a moment, touching her hand slightly.

"Sure…I'll help you, but just because you don't trust anyone else to help you."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She kissed him. "You don't know what that means to me, Garfield. When do we start?"

"Uh…Let's go start now. Go get into your uniform again. It'll be easier to move around in. Then meet me on the roof."

"Okay…I'll meet on the roof in ten."

Then Mirabella went to go change, same with Garfield. Meanwhile, at Lex Corp, the tram stopped inside a building, everyone unloading from the vehicle.

"We just entered one of our farms' hydroponic domes, where Lex Corp and the Reach are growing the food of the future." The tour guide explained.

"This will put Smallville's farmers out of business."

"Oh, no, not at all. The Reach plans to share their technique with the entire agricultural community."

Following the tour guide, the hidden squad was shown to a table where there were several types of fruits and vegetables.

"Please, everyone, enjoy your choice of these vitamin rich, Reach enhanced produce." The guide said.

"They're genetically enhanced?" Lavender questioned as she got a closer look.

"There's been no tinkering with genes, rest assured. The Reach has ways of drawing out an organism's full potential."

They walked over to the table, secretly hiding produce products in plastic bags and stuffing them into their pockets, except for Bart, who ate an apple.

"What? I'm maintaining cover." He replied to the other's glares.

"Just be careful, will you?" Aster said.

"I am…Don't worry." He replied before taking another bite.

"Why are you so worried about him anyways?" Roy ended up asking.

"Because…he's my boyfriend, _Roy. _Why shouldn't I be worried?"

Roy pulled her aside, having Robin settle with getting answers on what was in the tubes above the produce items on the shelves.

"And how did you make the team? You have no powers."

"I do now…thanks to the Reach themselves."

Roy stood straight, now realizing what happened to he's sister.

"Wait…The Reach…captured you?"

"Yeah, Roy…That's why I went missing for all those years…mostly."

"But…what happened? I wasn't there."

"What do you mean, you weren't there? You saw me walk out the door. I _ran away _that night, Roy. I didn't want to cooped up in a house where all I did was do chores."

"Uh…guys, can we focus on the mission here?" Lavender questioned, before Arsenal could continue.

"Fine…" Aster said.

Before Aster got too far, Roy caught her hand.

"We'll finish this later."

"Whatever…Go blow it out your…"

"**Aster!**" Lavender whispered, pulling her away.

"Time for a bathroom break." Robin said as he rejoined the squad.

They all turned for the bathrooms; of course the girls went into the girls' bathroom by themselves. Hours went by, the company finally closed and everyone, except the guards, were gone.

"Can we _please _start the mission now?" Impulse whined.

"Fine, yes, go." Robin replied. The guys stepped from their stalls, all in uniform now. "Robin to Solara and Black Thorn, you two there?"

"_We'd be here…__**still**__ in the bathroom…Are we starting now?_" Thorn's voice replied through the com-link.

"Yes, and don't forget, Solara, to turn on your stealth mode."

"_All set and ready. We'll meet you at the rendezvous site._" Solara replied.

Impulse forgot to turn on his stealth mode, the guys stepping out into the hallway with the girls waiting.

"Impulse…you're in the wrong mode." Thorn pointed.

"I crash all modes." He replied.

Solara hit her hand against her forehead.

"You're dating_ him_?" Arsenal questioned.

"Ugh…Stealth mode, hermano." Blue said, everyone ignoring Arsenal's comment.

"Oh…right. Now, where exactly did I…? Uh…" Impulse questioned as he tried to find the stealth mode button, which Blue ended up hitting with his elbow. "Ow…Thanks…"

Then they continued on their mission, hiding behind some racks. Robin scanned the room for cameras, Arsenal shooting arrows next to the cameras to scramble their signals. Then they continued to go down a level, quietly, almost having two guards catch them. The squad hid behind some large tanks with the enhancing product inside them. Some Reach scientists were working with the water, and one of them talking to the others.

"What's she saying?" Robin questioned.

"Okay…uh…She's warning her technicians to go easy on the _additive._ Just a sec."

Back at the Base, Anima had finally climbed to the roof of the warehouse, Garfield had been waiting secretly.

"Sorry about the wait. Stardust wanted to come and watch." Anima said before realizing she couldn't see Garfield. "Garfield? Beast Boy, this isn't funny. Huh? Where is he?"

Then a small gecko climbed up on Anima's shoulder. She looked to see it and Anima laughed.

"Garfield, are you trying to scare me?"

Then the gecko jumped off her shoulder, morphing into Garfield.

"No. I was just hoping to save you 15 percent."

"Fifteen percent on…what?" Anima questioned, confused.

"Uh…Never mind…"

"Okay…?"

"Let's just get started."

"Okay…" Anima said happily.

Meanwhile, back at Lex Corp again, Thorn was thrown into a wall by Black Beetle.

"I can't believe you blew up the exit!" Solara shouted at her brother as she attacked Black Beetle. "What the heck is wrong with you?!"

"I'm not about to let Lex Luthor take over anything. Especially not after what he did to me for eight years!"

"Eight years? What are you talking about, eight years?"

"Lex Luthor is the reason I have this mechanical arm!"

Solara stopped attacking, realizing her brother had gone through about the same amount of pain as herself had been through with the Reach experimenting on her.

"Can't you two hug it out later?!" Robin shouted at both of them as he threw a small explosive at Black Beetle before trying to help Thorn walk.

"Solara, I need a light orb!" Thorn called. Solara didn't move from her flight position, she was staring at Arsenal in disbelief. "Solara! Worry about your brother later! I need some help!"

"Huh? Oh, right. Hold on, Thorn."

Then Solara landed, containing Thorn in some light. After a moment, trying to hurry as she realized Black Beetle was aiming toward them, the light died down and pushed the two out of the way as Black Beetle blasted the floor in front of Solara, sending her flying into the wall, passing out.

"Solara!" Impulse shouted before rushing over, helping Solara up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…Yeah, I think so…I'll be okay."

"You sure?"

"No…" She chuckled.

"Stay put." Impulse told her as he set her against the wall. "I'll be back."

"Wait, Impulse…"

But it was too late, Impulse was already circling Black Beetle, trying to suck away his air.

"Trying to suck away my air? I hardly touch the stuff." Black Beetle chuckled.

"Blue, what's wrong? Last time you took down Black Beetle, you were hardcore." Robin said.

"I know, but it wasn't me. The scarab was in control."

"So give it control again." Arsenal shouted at him.

"Believe me, there's nothing I'd like more. But I can't…not with Impulse's prophecy hanging over my head."

Then Black Beetle shot Impulse, trapping him, and knocking him out, on the wall with a giant staple right above Solara's head.

"Impulse! Ugh!" Solara shouted.

Everyone stared at Solara as her eyes began to turn red and her hands caught fire.

"Oh no! Solara's going supernova!" Thorn warned.

"That's bad…right?" Arsenal questioned.

"Move!" Robin replied as he pushed Arsenal out of the way just before Solara flew past, attacking Black Beetle like she did with Ivy, but Black Beetle was a lot tougher.

Robin made it over to the wall, Impulse waking up as Robin had attached several small explosives to the wall.

"Now?" Impulse questioned.

"Do your thing." Robin replied as he moved.

Impulse was about to vibrate outside the building, but then he saw Solara. He vibrated out of the trap, moving just in time, before the explosives blew a hole in the wall. Grabbing Solara, Impulse ran outside. Everything except him and Solara seemed to stand completely still. Impulse held Solara in a tight hug as she struggled to get free.

"Solara! Stop!" He shouted.

After a moment, Solara stopped struggling. Her eyes died from red to purple, and the flames on her hands died out. Solara looked up at Impulse.

"Im—Impulse?"

"Hey, sunshine."

"You're…You're okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay."

Solara hugged him tightly.

"It's going to be okay, Solara." Then Impulse pulled her off, holding her arms. "But we've gotta see if there's another way out of here. Come on."

The squad ran out after a moment, Impulse and Solara joining them again.

"Want the options? Cornfield…or cornfield?"

"Cornfield…" Robin replied.

Getting to the middle of the field, they stopped.

"Let's circle back. We'll lose him." Robin suggested, but it was too late.

"I…don't think so, **meat**."

Back at Base, a small wolf cub was running around, chasing its tail.

"Mirabella…" Garfield groaned as he picked up the wolf cub. "…you've gotta focus…" Then Mirabella whimpered, giving Garfield a sad puppy dog face. "Hmm…No, don't give me that look." He set her on the ground. "You asked me for help, Mirabella. I'm giving you help, but you won't get the hang of this transformation if you don't focus."

Mirabella whimpered, lying down. She covered her eyes, and, after a moment, she morphed back into her human form. Standing up, Mirabella fixed her hair and looked sad.

"Sorry, Garfield. I was just trying to make you laugh."

Garfield relaxed from his frustrated stance, smiling softly. He walked closer to Mirabella, touching her face gently.

"It's okay…And…it did kind of make me laugh."

Mirabella popped up, smiling, but it didn't last as her smile faded into a frown.

"Actually, it's just…when I change into a wolf cub, I become at least ninety-eight percent animal. Not only physically, but mentally as well, that's why I asked you to help me."

"Mirabee…why didn't you say something before?"

"I was…scared."

"Hmm…what if you had something to always remind you that you have to change back?"

"Like what?" Mirabella questioned.

"Like…" Then Garfield covered her eyes and slipped something her neck before removing his hand. "…your necklace."

Mirabella looked down, seeing the amber beaded necklace Garfield gave to her a couple months before. She was surprised and so happy, she hugged Garfield tightly.

"How…Where…?"

"M'Gann found it in the rubble of the Cave explosion. She put it in my box. I had to fix it up before I gave it to you again."

Mirabella let go, wiping away a small tear.

"I…I thought it was lost forever."

"I told you before Mirabella, it's just a necklace."

"And I told **you **before that it's special to me. I'll never take it off again."

Garfield held her hands softly in his.

"You really think it's that special?"

"Of course…You gave it to me." Mirabella replied, resting a hand on his shoulder.

They leaned in for a kiss, but just before they locked, "_Mirabella, Garfield, we're going to Smallville to meet up with Alpha squad._" Nightwing had called up.

"I should…go with them…" Mirabella pulled away. "…to see my sisters."

"Of course…" Garfield faked a smile, but was really breaking on the inside.

"Nightwing, wait up! I'm coming with!" Mirabella called down.

Before Mirabella got to the ladder, Garfield caught her hand and pulled her into a kiss. Mirabella was going to pull away, but she just kissed back. After a moment, they pulled away gently, Garfield touching her face ever so softly.

"_Anima?! Anima, come on!_"

"Coming, Conner!" She called back. "I'll be back, Garfield."

"Okay…Okay…" Then Mirabella started down the ladder. "Mirabee!"

"Yeah, Gar?"

Garfield ran over to the ladder.

"I…I love you…I love you so much."

"I love you too, Garfield. I'll be back later." She smiled.

Then Mirabella climbed down the ladder, leaving with Nightwing and Conner. At a barn in Smallville, at the Clark's farm, Anima ran inside.

"Thorn! Solara!" She shouted as she hugged Solara.

"Oh, Anima…" Solara said as she picked up Anima in her arms.

Stardust ran to Thorn, licking her face and making Thorn laugh.

"So…who's this?"

"Arsenal, this is Anima."

"My name off duty is Mirabella." Anima added.

"Anima, this is…my brother, Roy, aka Arsenal."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Anima waved.

"You…too." Arsenal replied.

"So, does this mean you're my and Thorn's brother too? Cause we're Aster's sisters."

"Sisters, huh?" Arsenal smirked.

"Oh, wipe that smirk off your face. We watched out for each other so we call each other sister."

"Hmm…I guess I could be your two's brother, too."

"Cool!" Anima said.

"Thorn?" Solara questioned her otherwise distracted sister.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, brother, great. Can you excuse me for a second?" Thorn said as she walked over to the Beetles who looked like they were having a conversation. "Blue?"

"Oh, hey, Thorn."

"Hey, I was just making sure you were alright. You looked like you were having a pretty serious conversation."

"Yeah, I'm alright. B'arzz, this is Black Thorn."

"Hmm…After seeing your powers in action, I believe that is a suitable name for you."

"Thank you. Actually, Blue here came up with it."

"No, I didn't…" Blue countered in surprise.

"Impulse told me about your doodles." Thorn confessed.

"Ugh…That guy just can't keep his mouth shut." Blue groaned.

"Come on. We're leaving. Bye, B'arzz."

"Goodbye…" After everyone left, B'arzz had smirked. "Black Thorn is a perfect name, indeed."


	23. Total Mode Control

Chapter Twenty-Three

_**April 9:**_

In Taos, the team met to meet/see B'arzz O'oomm, aka Green Beetle.

"Are we sure about this?" Thorn questioned, whispering to Blue.

"What choice do we have? He might be on our side, but we have to make sure." Blue whispered back.

Meanwhile, Solara walked from Impulse's side, slipping her hand from his, to walk over to Arsenal.

"Hey…" She greeted.

"Hey…" He replied, a smile across his face.

"So…are we…okay?"

"Hmm…Of course we are. Why are you asking?"

"Oh, no reason…It's just…for the last two years, I blamed you for making me angry and run away, but in turn it wasn't really even **you**."

"It's okay…I'd probably think the same. Actually, I did…with Green Arrow."

"I…don't think it's entirely his fault, Arsenal. The Light fed him information, like you told me, to a worried and guilt fallen man who really cared for you. I don't think you should be so hard on GA."

"Yeah, I guess you've got a point."

"So…you'll talk to him?"

"Yeah…Maybe I will. What about you?"

"What do you mean? Our parents—our **real **parents—are gone, dead. Jim Harper now is a clone."

"But he is the one you were staying with when you…left."

"Actually…I was living with your clone and his…wife, Jade."

"Huh…Do I…?"

"No. No, you don't."

"Alright, team, great job. Meeting adjured. Go home and get some rest." Nightwing said.

"I guess I better get going. Impulse is probably waiting. Talk later?"

"Sure…Later." Then Arsenal walked away, stopping in the door way as Solara walked over to Impulse, Blue and Thorn.

She giggled at something Impulse said.

The only thing he could hear was Solara say, "Come on, you energizer bunny. Let's go home."

Then, after saying goodbye, Impulse picked up Solara and _flashed _out, Arsenal walking away soon after. Thorn started for the door as well, but not before she noticed Blue not following with her. She turned around, walking over to hold his hand.

"Blue…are you…coming? You know your mother's gonna start to worry." Thorn said.

"Why…Why don't you go ahead? I'll meet up with you at the house."

"Okay…Are you sure, Blue?"

"Yeah…" Blue turned to Thorn, holding both her hands. "I'll be back before you know it."

"You really promise?"

Blue kissed Thorn on the lips for a long moment before pulling away.

"How's that…Queen of England?" Blue questioned.

Thorn laughed quietly.

"That's…That's a promise…Peter Pan."

Then Blue made the Peter Pan pose, making Thorn laugh harder. She kissed him on the cheek before heading toward the door, waving like the Queen of England, making them both laugh harder. After Thorn disappeared, Blue turned to Green Beetle who had shifted into a human form earlier.

Meanwhile, in Central City, Impulse and Solara came in the door, Impulse still carrying Solara yet hardly.

"Bart?" He set Solara on her feet. "Bart, is your metabolism low?"

"Just…Just a little…" He huffed as he bent over.

"Sit on the couch. I'll get you something to eat." Solara said as she helped him to the couch.

Then Solara ran into the kitchen to gather something for Impulse to eat. A few crashing noises and glass breaking echoed out into the living room.

"Solara?!" Impulse shouted, worried.

"I'm okay! One minute, Bart!" After a moment, Solara walked out, holding a bowl. "Okay…So I didn't really know what to get you to eat, so…here…" She said nervously as she handed the bowl to him.

Impulse removed his goggles and looked down into the bowl, seeing various chip snacks including some chicken whizzes.

"Hey…This is perfect. Thanks." Impulse said before stuffing a hand full of the food into his mouth.

"Really?" Solara questioned.

"Yeah…" He replied before swallowing hard. "Solara, don't worry about it. Hey, why don't you go get some sleep? I'm gonna go in a few hours to hang out with Lavender and Jaime."

"Sure…I'll come with."

"Cool…But what about Roy? Aren't you gonna hang out with him?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know…You just seem to be talking to him a lot lately. Even at the meeting, you were talking to him. And don't act like I didn't notice."

"Bart…" Solara removed her mask as she sat next to Bart. "Bart, look…I'm trying to make amends with him. I mean…for two whole years I was angry at him because I thought it was him who I had argument with that made me want to run away. Bart…?" He looked at her, an upset look plastered on it. "Look…Can you really be mad at me for trying to make amends with my _brother_? Huh?"

He sighed heavily.

"I guess not…"

"Good…" She looked at the bowl to him again. "Now eat up and take a nap."

"Only if you take one with me…"

She sighed.

"Fine…Let me put my mask and boots away. I'll meet you in your room."

"Sounds crash."

"Yeah, crash…" She said before walking to her room.

As she was about to walk into her room, she was stopped by Bart blocking her path into her room.

"Bart? What's…Mm!"

Aster was interrupted by Bart kissing her. After a long moment, they pulled away.

"Don't worry about your mask and boots, Aster. I just want to sleep."

Aster smiled. They walked into Bart's room and they laid down, just like they did the first night they slept together in the Cave. Bart lying behind Aster, his arm over her body as his hand intertwined with her hand.

A few hours later, Solara, Impulse, and Black Thorn arrived at Star Labs once more.

"Dude…Solara and I stopped by your house. Your mom and Thorn said you never…" Impulse started before noticing that Green Beetle had been tapping into Blue's scarab. "Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, Greenie! You're totally up in my buddy Blue's grill! Now, back off or…"

"Or nothing! He did it!" Blue shouted happily.

"Blue? What'd he do?" Thorn questioned as she gently touched his shoulder.

"He fixed me!"

"Great! Wha—What does that mean exactly?" Impulse questioned.

"The scarab…it's…silent. I'm in control, one hundred percent!"

"What does that mean?" Solara questioned.

"Don't you get it, ese?! The Reach can't touch me! I'm free, permanently free!"

"Crash…" Impulse said quietly but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Wait, Blue, are you sure?" Solara questioned.

"Thorn…" He walked over, holding her by the shoulders. "You've been able to hear it. Can you hear it now?"

Thorn closed her eyes, concentrating. After a moment, she opened her dark green eyes again, smiling.

"No…I can't." She squealed happily as she hugged Blue. "Oh my, gosh! It's silent!" She continued hugging him. "This is great…Now the Reach can't touch you…ever."

"Right…Never. And now, I can't ever hurt you."

Thorn let go, walking over B'arzz.

"Thank you, B'arzz. You don't know what it means for Blue to be free."

"You are most welcome, Black Thorn."

"Call me Lavender."

"Lav…come on. We gotta go tell Mirabella. She'll be so excited." Solara said.

"Oh, right. Thank you again…Bye."

"Goodbye." B'arzz returned before the four walked away for the Base.

_**April 11:**_

Lavender, still staying with the Reye's, walked out of the guest room yawning and stretching. She walked down the hallway, not paying attention, and bumped into someone, falling backward on the ground. Looking up, she saw Jaime standing above her.

"Oh, sorry, Jaime. I wasn't paying attention." Lavender said as she took Jaime's outreached hand to stand up.

"Obviously…" Jaime smiled.

Lavender laughed, rubbing the back of her head as she spoke, "I guess I should stop doing that before I walk into the bathroom with someone in there."

The two just laughed at her joke.

"Well, you know, the Queen of England doesn't have to knock…" He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Why should you have to?"

She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I guess Peter Pan never does either. He comes right through the window." Lavender said, jokingly. "So…how does it feel?"  
"How does what feel?"

"How does it feel to be in control?"

"Oh, weird, actually. It's been months since I've had control and not have a _Jiminy Cricket _in my head."

Lavender giggled quietly, resting her head against his chest, hearing his heartbeat through his white tank top.

"One with an attitude no less. I guess it's good for me too…Now I can't hear it, and also, since it's quiet, there's no one to interrupt us."

"Yeah…no one…"

Before Jaime could finish his sentence, him and Lavender were kissing. After a long moment, they pulled apart slowly and gently, huffing for air since they were kissing so hard.

"I…uh…I've gotta go get ready. I've training with Nightwing and Super boy in an hour." Lavender said as she took a step back. "I'll see you later?"

"Sure…" Lavender went to walk around him, but he caught her arm. "Hey, do you…want to…double at La Vida's afterward…with Aster and Bart?"

"Uh…Sure…What's the occasion?"

"Well, I thought we could celebrate the fact that Bart's prophecy isn't coming true anymore."

"Cool! I'll ask them when I go to the Base."

"Cool…Call me when you're done at the Base, huh?"

"Sure thing." Then Lavender pecked a kiss on Jaime's cheek before disappearing into the bathroom.

After she was gone, Jaime held his head in pain. He started walking to his room, suddenly dizzy.

"Ugh…What's happening to me?" Jaime whispered as he entered his room, closing the door behind him.

After the door was closed, Jaime tried to walk to his bed, falling on the floor. Trying to get up, Jaime just fell flat on the floor.

"_I am in control now, Jaime Reyes…_" The scarab said.

Jaime tried screaming, but nothing left his mouth. After a few moments of trying to fight the scarab for control, Jaime finally stopped struggling. His face was buried into his comforter as he slowly rose from it, his eyes glazed over and a blank expression across his face.

"Now I am one hundred percent in control of your body, Jaime Reyes." The scarab said through Jaime's body.

Back at the Garrick's household, Bart and his great-grandparents had just finished breakfast, yet Aster still hadn't come down from her room.

"Bart, could you please go get Aster? She shouldn't sleep in so late." Joan said as she started on the plates.

"Sure thing." Bart replied as he started walking up the stairs.

Walking up the stairs, Bart could hear a distant sound, it sounded like singing. He walked down the hall, following the music. Yet, the singing wasn't echoing from Aster's room, as he assumed it had been from. It came from the cracked ever-so-slightly open door of his room across the hallway. Bart crept over, opening the door a little more, seeing Aster turned away from the door at his dresser. She was going through his drawers, pulling out a dark green short sleeve. Bart continued to watch as Aster changed her shirt from the baggy pajama shirt and slipping on his short sleeve shirt. The Aster was a little taller than Bart, so the shirt was just a little small for her, slightly showing her stomach. After she did, she looked in the mirror to fix her hair and saw the door had been opened a little more than she left it before. Whipping around, she blasted the door with a light orb, scorching the wood slightly, Bart jumped out of the way at the orb hit the door closed. Lying on the ground in pain, Bart groaned, and Aster opened the door. She ran over to his side to try and help after seeing it was Bart.

"Oh…I'm so sorry, Bart." She said.

"It's…okay." Bart groaned as he sat up.

"Wait, no, I'm not sorry. Don't you knock?"

"It's my room, I shouldn't have to knock." He groaned as he rubbed his head.

"Uh…Good point. Nevermind. Come on, here we go." She said as she pulled Bart to his feet again.

Bart looked at Aster, wearing his dark green shirt, the one he had brought with him when he came from the future. He smiled, stroking her face gently as she pressed her forehead against his.

"So…what were you doing in my room? And why are you wearing that old shirt?" Bart questioned as he broke the silence in the process.

"Uh…All my clothes are dirty and I needed something to wear today. I can put it…"

Bart interrupted by kissing Aster. After a long moment, he pulled away so slowly and gently, Aster almost didn't even notice.

"Aster…you look great in that shirt."

"Really?"

"Yeah…I want you to keep it. You look better in it than I ever did."

"Are…Are you sure, Bart?" Aster questioned.

"I…love…how you look in it."

Aster smiled softly, gently touching his face. She stroked his face, moving up to comb her fingers through his auburn hair. As she pressed her forehead against his once more, both started giggling. But it didn't last long.

"_Bart! Is Aster awake?!_"

"Ugh…" Bart groaned, which only made Aster laugh. A smirk crawled across Bart's face. "Oh, so you think that's funny, huh?"

"Ah! Bart Allen, stop!" Aster shouted as Bart, using his speed, started tickling her.

She tried escaping into his room, landing on the floor. She started coughing, and as Bart continued, it got harder and harder to breathe. Trying to push Bart off was useless as he continued to use his speed as an advantage.

"B…Ba…Bar…Bart…" Aster struggled to say through coughing and choked breathes.

After a moment, her entire body had relaxed into nothing but dead weight, her eyes closed as her head went limp with the rest of her body. After she passed out, Bart ended up stopping, not realizing what happened to Aster.

"I can't believe you're ticklish, Aster…Aster?" He questioned as he looked at her limp body. Fear started up his spine, his entire body started shaking with the chills of his fear running up and down him. He gently turned her head toward him, hoping this was just some joke she was doing. "St…Stop messing with me, Aster…Aster?" After Aster didn't respond, Bart ran to the door, screaming down stairs, "I need help! Help!"

Bart ran back over to Aster, tears forming in his eyes. Almost imminently, Joan and Jay came in the door way.

"Bart? What happened?"

"I…I don't know…I was just tickling her and then…I **don't know**."

"Okay…Okay…Joan, I need her medicine. It should be in her nightstand."

"Right." Joan acknowledged before hurrying to Aster's room.

"What…What medicine?" Bart sniffled.

"She's got asthma, Bart. Aster didn't say anything to you?"

"No…When'd she find out?"

"She had a checkup with Black Canary and Nightwing yesterday. It must've slipped her mind after she told us when she came home." Jay explained as he continued his check of Aster's pulse, which was fading and quickly. "Joan! I need that medicine!"

Joan came back into the room, tossing the small inhaler to Jay, who caught it easily.

"Come on, Aster…Stay with us." Jay said as he shook up the inhaler.

He threw the cap off and puffed the medicine inside Aster's mouth. They waited for a moment, no response. Bart laid the ground next to her, playing with her loose hair.

"Come on, Aster…Sunshine, you gotta come back. You just have to…please…come back…You know I won't be able to do this alone…Aster, please…Don't do this to me…" Bart continued whispering like this until Joan pulled him away.

He fought, trying to get back to Aster, but she was stronger than she appeared and pulled Bart into a tight hug where he cried so hard, mumbling he was sorry. After a moment, Aster started coughing hard. She sat up, continuing to gasp for air as Bart rushed over and hugged Aster close, crying into her shoulder.

"Huh…Bart? What happened?" Aster questioned in surprise of the sudden hug.

"You had a slight asthma attack, sweetie. Bart? Let's let her breath, dear." Joan said, resting her hands on Bart's shoulders.

Bart tightened his grip, not enough to choke Aster though. He didn't want to leave her, he was so afraid of losing her. Aster hugged him, knowing why he didn't let go when his great grandmother suggested him too. Aster looked up at the two, nodding. They looked at each other before leaving the room, closing the door behind them.

"Bart…Bart, I've gotta breath." He didn't let go. "Bart…they're gone. It's just us."

Bart, hesitantly, let go, tears streaming down his face and leaving it soaked. Aster smiled as she wiped a tear from his cheek. He held that hand on his face, wanting it to never leave.

"I…I told you before…I wouldn't be able to handle it, or forgive myself, if you died. I…love you, Aster. You are the light of my life and…I can't live without you, sunshine. Please…why didn't you tell me you had asthma?"

"Bart…I'm sorry. Nightwing did a checkup on me and my sisters yesterday for medical records. He found I had asthma. I never knew until he told me. I'm…sorry."

"Just…promise me, if something like that comes up again…" Aster stroked his face as he continued to talk. "…that you'll tell me right away."

She wiped another tear with her other hand, now holding his face gently up with both hands.

"I promise…" Aster said, smiling which faded into a worried frown. "Are…you…going to be okay, speed bunny?"

"Yeah, I'll be…Wait, _speed bunny_?"

Aster brushed his hair with her hand, smiling amusingly.

"I thought it was cute."

Bart started laughing, Aster joining soon after. After a moment, Bart got up, lying on the bed. Aster had gotten up afterward, lying next to him. She put one arm under her head, and the other across Bart's chest, her head moved into the crest of his neck. Bart turned on his side, his face buried in Aster's blonde hair.

"Please don't scare me like that again, Sunshine. I love you too much to lose you." Bart said as he pulled her closer.

"I'll try not to." Aster replied sleepily.

As the two were drifting into sleep, Aster's cell phone started ringing. She pulled it out of her back pocket, putting the small phone to her ear.

"Who is it?" Bart questioned.

"Lavender…No, I was talking to Bart…Nothing, we're just laying down. Why? What's up?...Oh, cool."

"What?" Bart questioned.

"Lav? Yeah, hold on a second?" Aster pulled the phone down, so she wasn't directly speaking into the phone, but at Bart. "She wants to know if we'd be up for late lunch with her and Jaime. A double at La Vida's. Sound…crash?"

"Huh? Yeah, sure…" Bart said, tired.

"Yeah, Lav? Yeah, Bart and I will meet at the zeta tube closest to Jaime's house. Sound good? Cool…Text me when you're there…Alright, bye. Love ya, sis."

Then Aster hung up, slipping the device into her pocket before returning to her position and falling sleep with Bart. Later that afternoon, Jaime was sitting on his bed just staring out the window. The door opened slightly, Lavender's black hair flopping around her face as she peeked inside the room.

"Uh…Jaime?" Lavender questioned, Jaime not even flinching. "Jaime? Hey! Peter Pan?" Lavender walked over, wrapping her arms around his shoulders from behind. She bent over, leaning her head next to his ear. "Are you…thinking of flying away to Neverland?"

"No…" Jaime replied, his voice stern.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Lavender questioned as she walked around and sat next to him. "Look, I know I didn't call and training went longer than expected, but I'm sorry. Nightwing was trying to get Robin and Wonder girl to train me instead."

"Wait…Why do are apologizing?"

"Well…you sounded mad. I thought you were mad at me for being late."

Jaime smiled softly at Lavender, holding her hand.

"I guess I'm just a little tired." Jaime said.

"Oh…Well, do you want to still go out?"

"Huh? Oh, right…Our double date…Uh, yeah sure. I just have to change my shirt."

"Okay…" Lavender said, worriedly, but kissed his head, getting the deep smell of his hair at the same time. She giggled. "Hmm…You used my shampoo, didn't you?"

"How'd you tell?" Jaime questioned.

"Cause your hair smells like my blueberry shampoo, silly."

Jaime chuckled, holding up his hands.

"Guilty as charged. I ran out of my shampoo and grabbed yours." Jaime laughed.

Lavender giggled before kissing Jaime. After a moment, she pulled away.

"I know I haven't said it lately but…I love you." Lavender said, causing Jaime to have a surprised expression across his face, not replying. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Jaime…I just told you I love you. You don't have anything to say to that?"

Jaime held his head gently, groaning ever so slightly and quietly enough where Lavender didn't hear. The real Jaime was trying to break back through, even if it was momentarily.

"Sorry Lav. I'm just…I'm not myself right now." He stood up, standing in front of her and holding her hands in both of his. "I…love you too. I always will love you."

Lavender's anger disappeared into worry.

"Are you sure about going to La Vida's for the afternoon?"

"Yeah, I'm positive. I'll be okay…my Queen of England."

Lavender smiled softly.

"Alright…Peter Pan, I'm gonna go tell Bart and Aster. See you soon."

"Yeah…Soon…"

Then Lavender left, closing the door behind her. As soon as the door closed, Jaime laid down into a ball of pain, the scarab regaining control of his complete body.

"_I told you…I am in control, Jaime Reyes. Let what is done be done. Do not fight me._" The scarab said inside his head.

"No…Lavender is in danger. I will not stop fighting…not when I promised her."

"_Promised her __**what**__?_"

"I promised…I would never hurt her…"

"_She won't know the truth until it's too late, anyways. You are no longer in control…Jaime Reyes._" Jaime stopped struggling. "I am in control, Jaime Reyes. And you will be nothing but the fate of the planet Earth's demise."

"_No…_!" Jaime, from inside, screamed.

No one would be able to hear, not even Lavender herself could hear it if she was in the room still. Now, only the scarab and the Reach can hear Jaime talk from inside. What danger will he put Lavender in now that the scarab has control?


	24. Rekindling Old Tye

Chapter Twenty-Four

_**April 12:**_

La'Gaan was laying in his hospital bed, trying to rest even knowing M'Gann had been captured by Aqualad's top lieutenant, Tigress. He was just about to fall asleep when a knock echoed off the door. La'Gaan turned over to face the door, seeing Nightwing standing there in the door way.

"Nightwing, any news on M'Gann?" La'Gaan questioned as he sat up.

"No, sorry. But someone wanted to see you."

That's when Anima came in from behind Nightwing.

"Hey, La'Gaan…" She said just loud enough where La'Gaan heard her.

"Hey, Minnow." He waved; surprised she came to see him.

Anima walked over, sitting in the chair next to the bed.

"How are you feeling?" Anima asked.

"Just a broken leg…I think I'll be fine in about a month."

"A whole month?"

"Not that bad. I'm going to go to Atlantis for a while; I should be able to heal better. I'll be back before you know it."

"Okay…I hope you feel better."

"Thanks, Minnow."

Nightwing walked out as Anima continued to talk with La'Gaan.

"So, Anima, why'd you come to see me? I thought you'd be out looking for your boyfriend's sister."

"I was…last night. Garfield wanted me to rest today, but I can't stay inside all day so I asked Nightwing to bring me here to see you. I mean, you did help my sister, Aster, when we first came on the team."

"I…did?"

"She yelled at you, but you made her feel better by getting everything, bottled up inside, out of her. Plus, you're still family. My dad always told me to make sure everyone in your family is alright, even if they're not blood, they're still family."

La'Gaan smiled, having Anima there made it seem nice and seemed to be relaxing in way where he almost forgot about M'Gann being captured. After a couple of hours, Anima's communicator started beeping in her ear.

"Oh, I have go." She said.

"Why? Where are you going?"

"Nightwing needs me back at Base. Something's going on."

"Alright…" Just before Anima made the corner of the door, La'Gaan shouted, "Hey, Anima?" She turned back into the doorway. "Thanks for sitting with me."

"You're welcome, La'Gaan. See ya, bro." Anima waved before disappearing around the corner.

At Star Labs, Solara had zetaed in, asked to come by Nightwing moments before. As she walked in, the zeta tube started up again, Nightwing walking through, Black Thorn in follow.

"Hey, Solara…Thanks for coming."

"No problem, Nightwing. What's going on? It sounded important."

"It is. I wanted you to try and help with a couple of the abductees we rescued from the Reach."

"O…kay…? Thorn?"

"Same thing with me."

"Follow me. They should be in the middle of training right now." Nightwing said, walking out of the room.

The girls followed Nightwing to an observation room, overlooking a training room with five teens inside. The two sisters overlooked the teens as the five tried to gain control of their powers, failing out of frustration. Then Thorn backed away, scared slightly.

"Thorn, what's wrong?" Solara questioned.

"I—I know one of those kids…Actually two…"

"What? Who are they?" Nightwing questioned.

"It's Jaime's best friend, Tye Longshadow. And…one of my old friends…from when I was little. I thought I'd never see Virgil again."

"Let's go down and say hi then." Nightwing said.

"No! I mean…no…I don't think Virgil would want to see me. I…up and disappeared last time I saw him. He'd probably be too mad to see me again so soon."

"Are you sure?" Solara questioned.

"Yeah…I wanna go home, Nightwing. Please?"

"Sure…Solara, why don't you…"

"No, I'll stay behind. I'm going to try and help these five. They've been through the same thing my sisters and I have been. I am going to stay behind, Nightwing."

"Alright…just for the week though."

"Right, and if I make progress?"

"We'll see, Solara. I have no doubts that you will make progress."

"Want me to tell Bart for you?" Thorn questioned.

"Thanks. Try and make him understand why I'm doing this and that it's only for the week?"

"Sure thing, sis." Thorn hugged her sister. "See you in a week then."

Thorn waved goodbye to her sister and left with Nightwing.

"Alright, let's get you changed into some other clothes and get you set into training with them, Solara." A female scientist said.

"Call me Aster."

The two walked out to get Aster ready to meet the other teens. After changing, Aster walked into the room with the trainees as they were taking a break. At first they almost formed a semi-circle against her, but Tye separated himself and addressed her.

"What's up?"

"Nothing much, I saw you guys training and I thought I'd join."

"She's probably just here to watch us for the scientists." Eduardo snapped.

"Hey. Give her a chance hot head!" retorted Virgil. "Sup."

"Like I said…not much." she said. She wasn't surprised by Eduardo's reaction, but her feelings were hurt.

"What's your name?" Virgil questioned.

"Huh?"

"Your name, girl!" Virgil said, playfully punching her arm.

"Oh! Aster, my name's Aster."

"Aster?...Aster…where have I heard that name before?" Tye murmured to himself.

"Are we going to train or not?" Aster questioned.

The trainees looked at each other, then shrugged almost in unison and went to train with her. Virgil seemed set on impressing her, but he sometimes messed up the routines they were trying to learn. Tye, however, seemed to be trying to find out where he'd heard her name before.

"So, Aster…Why'd you really come in here?" Tye questioned.

"Uh…Um…Look, I'm not going to lie to you. I know how it is, to be captured, experimented on, and then all of a sudden have these powers that you can't explain…"

"How do you know any of that?!" Eduardo snapped.

"Because…that's how I got my powers…"

"You…actually have powers?" Virgil questioned.

"Yeah…" Then Aster walked around them, facing the opposite wall.

After a moment, she took a deep breath and her eyes started glowing bright gold. She made balls of light form on her hands and threw them at the wall continuously. After a moment, she stopped and powered down, turning around to the other teens.

"I can do worse…but it's not inside friendly." Aster said.

"Wow…Not bad…" Virgil said as he walked over and swung his arm around Aster's shoulders. "Maybe you _can _help us with our powers…"

Aster giggled a little, glad she was easily accepted into the same group, at least…most of the way. Back at Base, Anima came running into the warehouse, Garfield and Nightwing waiting for her.

"Sorry I'm late. I haven't exactly gotten used to getting around here yet." Then Anima stood up straight. "What's up, boss?"

Nightwing smiled.

"You can relax, Mirabella. I'm not sending you two on a mission."

"Aw…I was all prepared and everything." Mirabella whined as she pulled her mask off.

"Not this time, Mirabella. I have something I need to tell you two."

"What do you mean, Nightwing?" Mirabella questioned.

Karen, Mal, Conner, and Wally walked in the room as well, coming down from the floor above.

"Nightwing's already told us, now they should know as well." Karen said as she walked over.

"Told you what? Nightwing, what's going on?" Mirabella questioned in worry.

"Mirabella…Artemis, she isn't dead."

"What? But…But, Aster…She **saw **Aqualad **stab **Artemis, she saw him kill her!"

"It was faked, Mirabella." Wally replied.

Mirabella hung her head, trying to process this information.

"Mirabella, are you alright?" Garfield questioned.

That's when Mirabella ran over to Wally, starting to punch him.

"You made me believe she was dead! How could you do that to **everyone**?!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face.

Wally grabbed him in a tight hug, trying to make her stop, but she just kept pounding him on the back, hard. Karen came over and pulled her off, holding her close. She tried to get free, trying to attack either Nightwing or Wally again.

"How could you?! We thought she was dead! We believed she was gone! We made a **grave **for her!" Mirabella continued screaming.

"Mirabella, calm down…" Conner said as he kneeled next to her and Bart.

"Did you know about this?!" She questioned.

"No…No one did. It was just Artemis, Wally, Nightwing, and Kaldur."

"Wait…Kaldur? You mean…Aqualad isn't a traitor like everyone was saying?" Mirabella sniffled.

"No…Artemis is alive and Kaldur is still on our side, Mirabella." Karen explained.

"Why'd you keep it a secret? M'Gann **fried **Kaldur's brain!" Garfield shouted at Nightwing.

"I thought it was right for the team **not **to know. And I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept this from all of you. Especially you, Mirabella. After knowing all you've been through, I'm sorry."

Mirabella was still angry; she couldn't believe that Nightwing kept this from her all this time. Not only that, but Aster and Lavender as well, and the rest of the team. She just got up and walked out of the warehouse, and to her bed in the next warehouse. She lay down, covering herself up with the blanket. The others followed soon after and decided to leave her alone, except for Garfield. He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, stroking her hair.

"Oh…Mirabella…"

"Just leave me alone, Garfield." Mirabella said, sniffling back some more tears.

"I could never leave you alone, Mirabee." Garfield whispered loud enough for Mirabella to hear him.

Mirabella dug her face deep into her pillow as she cried as hard as she could. Garfield laid down, being behind her, and wrapped his arms around her. After a while, they both fell asleep, Conner walking in and covering Garfield with the blanket from his own bed.

"I didn't mean for her to get that upset with it." Nightwing said in the background, stepping into the shadows.

"What'd you except, Nightwing? Mirabella and her sisters have been through a lot as it is. Having Artemis died hurt them just as bad. Mirabella's father was Ted Kord; she witnessed the explosion that killed him. And after having Artemis _died, _Mirabella thought she was becoming bad luck. She was so close to breaking up with Garfield because of it."

"I thought it was best for the team."

"You almost lost several people on this **team **because you decided it was a bad idea to share. I thought we were team. I thought the three of you started this team because the League was keeping secrets from _**you**_**.** How could you possibly think that keeping something like this from us was an entirely bad idea?"

"I…I don't know how to answer that…I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? That's all you can come up with? I hope you come up with something else…for Mirabella. You owe her…big time." Conner said.

_**April 14:**_

Mirabella hadn't talked to anyone but La'Gaan, Garfield, Bart, Jaime, and Lavender for the past couple of days. She was too mad with everyone else to say anything. Garfield and Mirabella were sitting together on her bed, talking and drawing in her drawing pad she saved from the Mount Justice explosion. Nightwing walked in, walking over to the two. Mirabella stopped laughing and turned away from her leader, still angry with him.

"Alright, I deserve this _ignore _treatment, Mirabella. But I have something that might make up for keeping the secret from you." She didn't respond. "Listen, I know you and Garfield spent a lot of time together in one of the rooms back at Mount Justice."

"Yeah, the art studio I set up for her. Now it's all gone, though." Garfield said sadly.

Mirabella rested a hand on his shoulder, remembering all the fun they had.

"Maybe not…Follow me."

The two thirteen year olds looked at each other and shrugged before following their leader. Walking out of the warehouse they were currently in, they walked to the next warehouse over. Opening the metal door, Nightwing flipped a switch on the wall inside. Lights flickered on, lighting up the entire inside, yet no one could see on the outside as the windows were all painted thick black. Looking around, Garfield and Mirabella saw buckets of paint, huge canvases, brushes and paint rollers of all sizes, and giant rolls of paper and tape.

"Oh…my…gosh…Nightwing, you did this?" Mirabella questioned.

"Yeah, but I had some help. Come on out you guys!" Nightwing replied.

After a moment, Conner, and Wally appeared from the level above.

"You all did this for us?" Garfield questioned.

"Yeah…Pretty cool, huh?" Nightwing questioned.

Mirabella's excitement disappeared, remembering how she was mad at Nightwing.

"Aw…Come on, Mirabella. You can't still be _that _mad at him." Garfield said, trying to make Mirabella relax.

Her crystal eyes closed, she turned to Garfield, smiling slightly.

"I guess…not _that _much…But I'm still mad." Then Mirabella hugged Nightwing. "Thank you, Nightwing."

"You're welcome, Mirabella." He replied.

Then the two thirteen year olds ran over to a huge canvas and started painted with a couple of roller brushes. They looked like excited kids at Christmas time, and it was very endearing.

"That's a way to make up to Mirabella." Conner said.

"Yeah…" Wally agreed.

"Thanks for helping me set this up, you two. This really meant a lot to Mirabella…_and _Garfield." Nightwing said.

"Anything to see those two spending time together again. They're really right for each other." Conner said.

Wally watched as Garfield and Mirabella painted the canvas together, remembering everything him and Artemis have done together over the last few years, even before they became a couple. Back at the Reyes household, a knock echoed off the front door. Lavender stood up from her seat off the couch and opened the door.

"Oh, hey, Bart. What's up?" She greeted.

"I was just wondering if you've seen Aster and to see if you and Jaime wanted to hang out today."

"Oh, Jaime's out doing some errands for his family. But I could use some fresh air. Give me a couple of seconds?"

"Sure."

"Uh…Mrs. Reyes? I'm going out for a while. I'll be back before dinner."

"Okay, Lavender…Be careful, dear."

"I will be!" Lavender called back as she closed the door behind her. "I needed to talk to you anyways, Bart."

"What's wrong?"

"Let's walk…"

Lavender and Bart started walking, getting to downtown before Bart was getting annoyed.

"Lavender…Where's Aster? Is she hiding from me?"

"What? Bart, no, never. It's just…"

"Just what? What'd I do?"

"Bart, you didn't do anything, I promise. It's just…Look, Nightwing brought her and I to Star Labs a couple of days ago and we saw the teens with powers from the Reach that we saved. She wanted to help them and has been staying there in order to help."

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"It was a kind of…last minute thing…I've been trying to figure out **how **to tell you. Sorry."

"No, it's alright."

They continued walking, sitting on a bench in the park. Lavender brought some snacks with her, so the two were eating them while they talked. After a while, Lavender stopped laughing and smiling, her mind going to Jaime.

"Huh? Lavender, everything okay?"

"Huh? Oh…um…Actually…no. Bart? Have you noticed anything _weird _with Jaime lately?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like…how he sounds like he's mad all the time, and the other night…Oh, never mind."

"No, what's wrong?"

Lavender sighed before turning, sitting sideways on the bench now.

"The other day, we were sitting in his room while he was doing homework and I thought I heard…something…"

"Something? Like what?"

"Well, you know how I could hear the scarab talk?"

"Yeah?"

"Well…I thought I heard it, but it sounded more like Jaime than the way the scarab talked."

"What do you mean?" Bart questioned with his mouth half full.

"Well, it said _Help me, chica…_It sounded like Jaime but it didn't come from his mouth, it came from the scarab…or at least I think it did."

"Oh, you're just paranoid, Lav. Jaime's fine…You haven't really been sleeping lately so you're probably just sleep deprived. You're hearing things."

"I hope you're right. I'm so worried. Ever since GB _silenced _his scarab, Jaime's been…distant with me."

"Don't worry about a thing, Lav. Listen, if anything else comes up with him, let me know, huh?"

"Yeah…okay…Thanks, Bart."

"No problema, chica."

Lavender giggled.

"You've been talking to Jaime _way _too much. You're starting to sound like him."

"I've been working on my accent. How do I sound?"

"Pretty good. Hey, you really want to talk Spanish, ask Mirabella for some tips. I mean, her first language _is _Spanish after all."

"Oh, yeah…I almost forgot. Crash. I will."

"…Crash…" She said before giggling again. "Now I'm starting to sound like you."

The two laughed before continuing to talk and eat. But little did they know that Jaime was standing on the other side of the park, watching as they sat there and laughed.

"_Why do I suddenly feel angry?_" The scarab thought.

"_Because I'm mad at Lavender and Bart…How could he take her on a date?_" Jaime replied, still only a voice inside his own body.

"_Jaime Reyes, stop this…I am in control. Your emotions are no longer worth the waste of time. .."_

"Scarab?"

"_Jaime…I do not take pleasure from your captivity. I know how it feels to be…repressed. I… do not want this, and I __**do **__feel that your emotions matter in certain occasions."_

"Certain occasions?"

"_What I mean is, in battle, I can help you by dulling your senses so you don't feel regret. When I don't repress your emotions…I feel them as well."_

"So what I feel with Lav-…"

"_I feel as well. I understand your ties with the ones you care for, but I feel… isolated. Foreign. Your ties are not mine to barge in on." _

Then Jaime walked away, disappearing before Lavender and Bart saw him.


	25. Signals

**This is a **_**REALLY **_**short chapter, we know and we're sorry. We're making chapter 26 an explanation of what's going on out of this chapter. So…NO FLAMES PLEASE! By the way, there may be some OOCness with the trainees. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

Chapter Twenty-Five

_**April 19:**_

Jaime had begun to feel remorseful after finding out how his scarab really felt, ignored and hidden away, it reminded him of Lavender and how she grew up. It also reminded Jaime of himself at the point of time, his own situation of the scarab being in control of his actions. Jaime mentally noted that if his situation improved, he'd try to help his scarab instead of repressing him like in the past.

"_Jaime Reyes, pay attention! The Reach Ambassador is approaching the stage! Stand straighter!_"

Jaime had no choice but to obey the command of his scarab. He still felt terrible, not even able to speak to voice his frustration of the situation, but then his scarab said something, snapping him from his thoughts.

"_We do not want him to see any possible signs of obvious betrayal._"

"_What do you mean by obvious?_" Jaime questioned.

"_Like I've mentioned prior, I have no intention of enslaving you forever, Jaime Reyes. We need a subtle sign to signal assistance from your comrades._"

"_**Our **__comrades, ese."_

"_What? That is illogical, Jaime_ _Reyes._"

"_If that's all you've learned from our time together, ese, then you haven't learned a thing._ _We're a team. Without you, I wouldn't be Blue Beetle. They are __**our **__comrades."_

_ "…You are very strange, Jaime Reyes…but in a good way."_

_ "Thanks…I think."_

_ "Do you have any forms of signals that we can use?"_

Jaime thought for a second, before almost forgetting about Lavender.

_"I…do, actually. When we walk on stage, can you wave like the Queen of England?"_

_ "Why would we humiliate ourselves in such a manner?"_

_ "Trust me, will ya? It's a signal."_

_ "Fine…" _Then the scarab, in control, walked on stage as he waved like the Queen of England. "_This is humiliating, Jaime Reyes."_

_ "Whatever…Now pose like Peter Pan…_"

_"As mentioned before, why would we do such a ridiculous act?"_

_ "It's another signal…Just do it."_

The scarab, as he talks to the crowd, poses like Peter Pan.

_ "No one will be able to comprehend our behavior." _The scarab thought.

_ "Which means the Reach won't either." _Jaime added.

_ "You have a point amidst all of these strange signals, but must they be so ridiculous?"_

_ "Yes…Otherwise our team won't understand, and might think we've actually joined the Reach."_

_ "That has been the only tactical strategy you have said thus far."_

_ "Gee…Thanks."_

After the scarab was done talking to the crowd of people, he walked off the stage.

_ "I hope this works for your sake, or I will make you rue the day you humiliated us in such a manner in public." _The scarab hissed.

_ "Should all go well, I might just let you do that."_

Meanwhile, at Star Labs in Taos, Lavender, Mirabella, Garfield, and Bart waiting in the zeta laboratory to pick up Aster.

"I can't believe this is happening." Bart said, despite what he had said a few days before.

"Yeah…My boyfriend's a traitor…" Lavender added.

"Let's try to stay positive! And watch some T.V." Garfield said as he turned on the television.

The news was the first thing on and they all watch Blue as he took the stage in front of a large amount of people, waving in ridiculous manner that no one there seemed to understand it.

"Why is he waving like that? He looks so stupid." Garfield said before realizing Lavender was standing behind him and watching the television as well. "Oops, sorry…I'll just change…"

"No, wait! It's Jaime…It's the **real **Jaime." Lavender interrupted as she snatched the remote from Garfield's hands.

"He's trying to send a message to us!" Mirabella added.

"How can you tell?" Bart questioned as he walked over.

"I synched with his scarab a couple days before Bart got here, remember?"

"Oh, right. You reversed the effects of Lavender's attack when Professor Carr went missing." Garfield reminded.

On the television, Jaime posed like Peter Pan, looking heroically toward the thick crowd.

"Oh my, gosh…He's acting out what we saw on T.V together." Lavender said.

"He looks ridiculous." Bart pointed, trying not to laugh.

"That has got to be extremely humiliating." Garfield said.

"How is the scarab letting him do that anyways?" Mirabella questioned.

"Jaime must be fighting the scarab's control." Lavender replied.

"Either that…or he's making fun of the Reach." Garfield added.

"Or both…" Bart added.

"We need to rescue him…" Lavender said as she headed for the door, Nightwing appearing in it and blocking her exit.

"Who needs help?" Nightwing questioned.

"It's Jaime. He's on the news and sending a signal he's still there. He needs help, Nightwing. And he needs it now." Lavender explained.

"No…"

"What?!" Everyone questioned their leader.

"If you're wrong, you all could be captured. If you're right and run in, Jaime could get severally hurt."

Lavender knew what Nightwing said was true, but the rage from being helpless to save Jaime overwhelmed her. She walked over to an empty metal desk and punched through it, the desk bending in the middle but not broken.

"Lavender!" Mirabella shouted.

"I…I just need some space." Lavender said.

That's when the door to the laboratory opened, Aster and five teens walking inside. That's when Tye, laughing at something Aster said, stopped and saw Lavender leaning against the desk she had just punched.

"Val!" He shouted before running over.

"Tye! Uh…I—I—I can explain…I…Uh…"

Before she could continue, Tye had kissed her, shocking everyone in the room. After a moment, Virgil walked over, startled, not only by what his friend just did, but by who was standing there.

"Lavender? Is it really you?" He asked.

"Yeah…It's me, Virgil…It's me…"

"Dude…" Tye said.

"Sorry, Tye…It's just…I've known Lavender for years…"

"Lavender? I thought your name was Valentina."

"It was…but it was…faked. My real name is Lavender, Tye."

Tye shook his head, trying to process this information before taking Lavender's hands.

"I don't care…Just…don't leave again."

"Tye…?" Lavender questioned.

"Just don't leave…I love you."


	26. Love Triangles

Chapter Twenty-Six

_**April 20:**_

Lav laid on her bed, overwhelmed by yesterday's events. Jaime was fighting his scarab for control right in front of her…But Tye?…Tye's outburst worried her. Love? He loved her? She only had thought of him as a brother until…well…he told her that. What was she supposed to tell him? She was already, technically, dating his best friend.

Getting up, Lavender walked over to her laptop, switching on music. (_Angel of Darkness by __Alex c Yasmin K_) Lavender twirled around her room, dancing with such elegance and balance, you would think she was close to a professional level.

As Lavender continued her deep thoughts on the events, the door creaked open slowly and carefully.

"Lavender?" Aster questioned as she poked her head inside the room.

Lavender sat up at the sound of her older sister calling her name from the now wide open doorway.

"Oh, hey, Aster…" She greeted, sadness lacing her voice, as she slid her knees up to her chest.

Aster, closing the door behind her, walked over, and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Lav, Tye's really worried about you. You just…ran out on him yesterday."

"Ugh! I don't…know what to tell him. I mean, I'm dating Jaime, Tye's best friend!" Lavender said as she fell back onto her pillow, her entire body slightly bouncing. She covered her eyes with her hands in frustration. "Oh, Aster…What am I supposed to do?"

"Oh, Lavender…" Aster said gently, softly touching Lavender's arm. "I wish I could help you, sweet heart but … I'm kind of in the same situation right now…"

That made Lavender removed her hands and sit up slowly, a suspicious expression spread across her face.

"Aster Harper…What the heck did you do?!"

"I…I didn't do anything! Look, when I got to Star Labs and met the teens, Virgil was really nice…I think he might _**like **_me. And never call me Aster _Harper _again."

"Why in the world would you say that Virgil likes you?" Aster twirled a strain of her hair, smiling shyly. "He did **not**!" Aster nodded slightly. "Oh my, gosh, Aster! Wait, does Bart know?"

"No! And he's not going to know, you understand?"

"Wow…" Lavender fell back again. "Aster…What makes us so loveable?"

"I don't have a clue, Lav…" Aster laid back on the bed, opposite end of the bed. "Not one clue."

Then the two girls started laughing, yet little did they know that Bart was standing in the hall, listening in on their conversation. Bart, feeling like he was just stabbed in the heart, backed away from the door, banging into the wall and sliding down it to the floor. After a long moment, he got back up and ran, he ran as hard and fast as he could before tripping on a rock and going flying to the hard ground. Time, which had slowed as he ran, sped back to normal as Bart got back to his feet with tears streaming running down his face as he walked back to the Garrick's house from Central City Park. As he walked inside, Wally had been visiting, sitting at the dinner table and talking to the Garrick's. Their conversation was cut short after hearing the front door close a little hard.

"Hey, Bart…Whoa, what happened to you?" Wally greeted, kind of jokingly.

Bart's clothing had been covered in dirt and grass stains, but his face wasn't any better. His face was covered in mud and soaked with his tears and few scratches covered his cheeks. He didn't even look down at himself before answering.

"I don't want to talk about it." Bart's usual smiley-self had disappeared, leaving the entire house with a deathly cold feeling.

Bart walked over to the stairs, and dragged himself up to his room before anyone could continue.

"Maybe you should go talk to him, Wally." Joan said after Bart had disappeared.

"Why me?" Wally questioned as he pointed to himself.

"I think it might have something to do with Aster. She spent all last week at Star Labs, and she hasn't really been talking, let alone hanging out, with Bart since she got back." Jay replied.

Wally sighed heavily before walking up the stairs. Just coming to the top, he could hear something smash against the wall in Bart's room. Opening the door with an almost complete slam, Wally saw Bart was about to throw his alarm clock against the wall. But before Bart let go, Wally, speeding over to him, grabbed Bart's wrist.

"Whoa…What'cha doing, Bart?" Wally smiled.

"**Go** _**away**_, Wally!" Bart shouted, trying to get free from Wally's grip, failing.

"Bart, calm down…What's go on?"

"NO! GO AWAY!" Bart screamed, still trying to break free.

"No!" Wally said, grabbing Bart in a tight hug from behind, just lifting Bart's feet off the ground, causing him to fail at trying to kick free. "I'm your cousin! There's gotta be something I can do, Bart! Anything…Anything I can do." Bart seemed to stop struggling. "Bart, I'll listen…I'll just listen…"

Bart stopped struggling altogether, remembering how he and Aster started their relationship, listening. Yet he was doing the listening…Aster knew little details, little pigments, but didn't see the entire picture. Wally released his younger cousin, who went to sit on the bed. Wally followed soon after, sitting next to Bart.

"What's going on, Bart?" Wally questioned once more, resting a gentle hand on Bart's shoulder.

"It's…Aster…" Bart took a deep breath. "I don't think she likes me anymore." He finally sighed.

Wally was surprised, why would his cousin ever think such a thing? After Wally first saw how Bart and Aster attracted each other, he never thought that they'd break away. It reminded him of himself and Artemis in a way.

"Bart…why would you **ever **think that?" Wally questioned.

Bart sighed heavily before rubbing the back of his head.

"I kind of…sort of…overheard them talking in Lavender's closed room."

Wally groaned, covering his face.

"Seriously, Bart?"

"Look, I know I did wrong but…I heard that…one of the teens at Star Labs, a Virgil Hawkins, likes her. He apparently…asked her out."

"Oh geez…What'd she say?"

"I think she said yes…" Bart said, trying to hold back tears.

Wally sat with Bart, trying to help with the pain his young cousin was going through.

"Hey…I've got an idea." Wally popped.

"What?" Bart questioned, wiping a stray tear across his cheek.

"Aster loves music, right? So…why don't you just come up with a song for her?"

"How? I…I don't know anything about music, let alone coming up with a song."

"I'll help you. And, if anything, it's in this family, Jay plays a mean guitar."

The two laughed and raced down the stairs to talk to Jay about a song for Aster. Meanwhile, back at Star Labs, the five teens that were staying there were left alone in the training room for a break. Not too soon after the scientists left, Virgil and Tye had started a power fight, the other three trying to break them up.

"No! Lavender's been through enough! You really think she's going to want to start a relationship?!" Virgil shouted, getting into Tye's face.

"I love her! There's nothing to can say or do to change—Ah!" Tye was interrupted abruptly by Virgil throwing Tye against the metal wall. He would've pounded Tye worse, but Eduardo and Asami stepped in between the two.

"Virgil, stop! This is crazy, hermano! So what if Tye _**loves **_your friend, Lavender?! Who cares?!"

"You don't understand what she's been through!" Virgil let Tye go, dropping to the floor below.

"You couldn't have set me down carefully?" Tye asked.

"Look, you _**really **_don't understand, Tye."

"What could she have been through, honestly? Why wouldn't she…"

"He dad killed her entire family in front of her, kidnapped her, and chained her inside a cave alone! He disappeared one day, and he never came back!"

"What?! Lavender's dad did all that?"Nathaniel (Neutron) questioned.

"Killed everyone…but her. She's been running from him ever since we were kids. The poor girl couldn't even look at my dad when she met us because she's been so afraid of men."

"Ah, geez…What have I done?" Tye groaned.

"Calm down, Tye…You didn't know." Nathaniel said.

"No…it's just…I know she feels. My mom's boyfriend is the reason I ran away."

"So…you can relate, huh?" Virgil questioned.

"Kind of…"

Before their conversation could continue, the door to the training room opened with Mirabella, Aster and Lavender stepping inside.

"Virgil!" Lavender shouted as she ran over, hugging her friend. "I'm so sorry about up and leaving all those years ago. I just couldn't…" She trailed off, slightly sobbing.

"Hey…Lav, it's okay." Virgil hugged her back. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"I've missed you." She whispered.

They released, noticing the others had walked over. Virgil, seeing Aster at the edge of the small crowd, walked over so they could talk in private.

"Aster…you look great…" Virgil said as he took her hands gently in his.

"Thank you, Virgil."

Aster had slipped on a short white dress, jean vest, a pair of jean shorts the **just **showed at the edge of the dress, and black ankle boots.

"So…have you thought about…?"

"Uh…yeah. Yeah, I have…" Aster said as she slipped her hands away from Virgil's, twirling a bit of her hair between her index and middle fingers.

There was a long silence, a dead silence as they could clearly overhear the others across the room. It becoming so deadly, Virgil took it as a yes, leaning closer to Aster.

"So…?" Virgil questioned hopeful he was right.

"Virgil…my answer is…"

As Aster and Virgil were talking, Tye had pulled Lavender into the hallway.

"Tye…What's…"

Before she could finish her question, Tye had got her against the wall, putting his hands on the wall and trapping Lavender in front of Tye.

"No running this time, Lavender."

Lavender's face started flushing; having someone this close to her made her…uncomfortable.

"T—Tye…I…I…"

"Look, I know why you ran the other day. Virgil told me what happened. And…I'm sorry."

"It…It's okay…" Lavender stumbled along her words, knowing what Virgil told him. "Tye…I…uh…I…"

"Look…if you don't want to date me, just tell me."

Lavender's face got really hot and red as she stood there. She was slipping down the wall ever so easily.

"Lavender…You gotta answer me, please."

"Tye…I—I—I—I…need to breathe!" Lavender shouted as she pushed him to the floor before slipping all the way to the floor against the wall.

Back inside the training room, Aster hadn't answered Virgil still, trying to figure out how to tell him exactly how she felt.

"Aster…what's your answer? I need an answer."

"Virgil…I—I—I…" Then she started gasping for air. "I…can't breathe."

Aster landed on her knees, Virgil falling with her as he tried to help.

"Aster, what's wrong? Aster…?"

Everything seemed to slow around Aster as everyone ran over to help. Then Aster's eyes closed, passing out. An hour had passed, Beast Boy, Impulse and Blue Beetle coming in through the zeta tube.

"Is everyone alright? What happened?" Beast Boy questioned the first scientist that approached them.

"It was Solara. She had an asthma attack."

"Is she okay?" Impulse questioned.

"Solara will be fine, but she's in…" The doctor trailed off.

"What? What's she in?" Blue questioned.

"Solara's attack was sever. She's stable but she fell into a coma. We almost lost her, but she's stable…for now."

"Can we see her?" Impulse questioned.

"Of course…This way."

The doctor led the three to a hospital room, where Lavender and Mirabella were waiting outside with Nightwing and Robin. Mirabella saw Beast Boy and ran over, hugging him close.

"It's going to be okay, Mirabee…I'm here. It'll be okay…" He whispered to her, stroking her hair.

Impulse and Blue walked over to Nightwing and Robin.

"How is she?" Blue questioned.

"Stable…but other than that, she won't be waking up anytime soon. Her attack was pretty sever." Nightwing replied, rubbing his eyes. "How could this have happened?"

As Blue talked to Nightwing, Impulse walked to the door way, lingering. Robin placed a hand on his shoulder, getting Impulse's attention.

"Go in…You need to see her." He told him.

Impulse shook his head sadly.

"She doesn't…even like…me anymore."

"Impulse…Aster loves you. I don't know why you would ever think differently."

"She likes Virgil…"

"One of the teens here?"

Lavender walked over, overhearing her friend's name, hugging Impulse.

"Impulse…Aster thinks of Virgil as a brother and nothing else. She was going to tell him she had someone special already…" Lavender let go, holding onto his forearms. "And that someone…is you, Bart. Don't **ever** forget that."

Impulse's face lit up with realization of how much his relationship was worth to Aster. He's disappointed face turned into his usual smile and walked inside, sitting next to Aster's bed. He pulled closer to the bed, holding Aster's hand with one hand and removing his mask with the other. Outside the room, Robin smiled; glad his friend was once again happy.

"Now that's the Impulse we all know." He said.

"Yeah…He really loves her." Lavender's smiled soon faded. "I can't believe this happened." Lavender sighed, pressing the palms of her hands against her forehead.

"Is there anything Nightwing or I can do to help?"

"Just watch Mirabella for me. I'm going to be still staying at Blue's place…keeping a close eye on him."

"What for?"

"He's been acting **extremely **weird ever since Green Beetle _reprogrammed _his scarab." Lavender replied.

"Weird how?"

"Well…you know Blue and I are a couple, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"He's the one who wanted the relationship but it seems like he doesn't want one anymore. And I keep thinking…" Lavender looks over at Blue before turning back to Robin and sighing heavily. "I keep thinking I hear him talking to himself sometimes, like when I was able to hear the scarab talk before."

"Right…Hmm…That is weird. What's he said about it?"

"Nothing. I haven't confronted him about it." Then Lavender pulled Robin around the corner. "Do you think I'm going crazy or something?"

"What?" Robin laughed.

"I'm serious, Robin! I'm hearing things, and thinking stupid things. I mean, you've gotta know a lot about crazy people, Gotham's full of them."

Robin sighed heavily.

"No, Lavender, you're not crazy. You're probably just seriously paranoid though."

"Like that makes me feel better." Lavender said sarcastically as she leaned against the wall.

"Paranoid's better than me, Nightwing, or Batgirl, sending you to Arkham."

"Point taken." Lavender chuckled, which died quickly. She slipped down the wall to the floor. "I…don't know what to do."

"There's nothing to do. Blue's gonna be fine."

"Not him…I meant Aster…She's my sister and…and…" Lavender couldn't even finish as she started sobbing.

Robin sat next to her on the floor, pulling her into a hug.

"Everything will be okay, Lav…" He whispered before he came up with an idea. "Hey…I'll be right back…I've gotta go talk to Nightwing for a second."

Lavender nodded, wiping away a tear as Robin got up and disappeared around the corner. Later that late-afternoon/early-evening, Lavender had changed into a black tunic, dark green leggings and black ankle boots. A dark green glove covered her left hand as a black one covered her right. She had pulled her black hair into two braids, hanging behind her. A knock emerged on her bedroom door. Turning around, Robin was standing there in regular clothing.

"Hey…What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I came to pick you up. Nightwing agreed that you need to get away for a bit."

"So…? Where am I going?" Lavender asked as she leaned against her dresser.

"He's agreed to let you sleep at our place for a while until everything has died down with your brain." Robin joked.

Lavender giggled.

"Thanks…But…no thanks. I'd rather…"

"Lavender…you asked me earlier today if you were crazy. You're not crazy at all but you are stressed."

"And staying at your guys' place will help? A house full of guys? Hmm…"

"Hey, Barbara's dad is out of town this week, so she's staying with us too. You won't be alone."

Lavender sighed, knowing there was no way out.

"Fine…Give me ten minutes?"

"I'll be waiting downstairs." Robin said as he disappeared.

After Lavender had gathered some clothes, and her essential items, said goodbye to the Reyes family. Standing on the curb with Robin next to her, it was strange. She hardly ever talked to him, yet it was like he knew everything about her life.

"So…? Where's our ride?" Lavender questioned, shivering from the cold a little and dead silence.

"Alfred should be here soon."

"Alfred?" Lavender questioned. "Please don't tell me that's Nightwing?"

"No…Alfred's a family friend…and the butler."

"Butler? Hmm…So you guys are rich?"

"Yeah…Kind of embarrassing."

"I know how that is…So…what am I calling you and Nightwing while I'm staying at the mysterious palace?"

Robin chuckled.

"I'll tell you later. And it's a mansion…not a palace."

"Oh…A mansion, huh?"

"No one's supposed to know. You're lucky to even see it."

Lavender laughed before noticing a limo pulling up next to them.

"What the…?" Lav started.

"Hello, Miss." A tall man greeted.

"Uh…Hello…" Lavender stuttered.

"Lavender, this is Alfred."

"Nice to meet you." She said.

"Greetings."

Lavender went for her suitcase when Alfred took it first.

"I will get your bags, Miss."

"Oh, thank you." Lavender said sheepishly. Then she noticed Robin climbing into the back of the limo, so she followed. "Geez…This is new to me."

"You get used to it." Nightwing, in regular clothing, replied.

"Ah! Geez…what is it with you guys? You're like a couple of ninjas."

"Sorry?" Nightwing chuckled.

"Whatever…So…a week in Gotham? This'll be a blast!" Lavender said sarcastically.

"Hey, it'll be fun. Plus, we've moved Aster to the Gotham Hospital so she's closer to you." Barbara, in the far front of the back, said.

"At least you're staying with us, Barb. I feel better." Lavender confessed.

"I thought you would." Nightwing said.

The four chatted as they were driven to Gotham, but it couldn't keep Lavender's mind off of everything that had happened. Her thoughts trailed back to the events of the day. Her sister had gone into a coma from an asthma attack, her boyfriend was alright in real life but not to her head, or so it seemed, and…she almost killed Tye, telling him to get off and no that she wouldn't go out with him. It seemed like seconds when someone waved their hand in front of her face, snapping her from her deep thoughts.

"Huh?" Lavender questioned.

"We're here, Lav. Come on." Barbara said.

"Oh, right." Lavender said as she climbed out, looking around at the huge building in front of her. "Wow…this place is huge!"

"It is a mansion. Come on, I'll show you around." Barbara said.

"Oh, my bags…"

"I will bring them to your room, Miss."

"Oh…okay…Thank you, Alfred." She said before following Barbara inside.

Now Lavender knew it was going to be different while she stayed here, at this…place. She thought it was beautiful but she was so new to the whole rich life. She never really ever had a rich family, she was left out of it all, not that she would've liked to have been a part of it. Lavender always thought of rich people as stuck up, glamour-is-everything, rude people. But now knowing that these three were a part of that life, she had a completely new perspective. After the tour Barbara gave her, Lavender was shown to her room, but couldn't sleep. She got up, creeping out of her room, descending down the darkened house.

"Now…to find the kitchen." She whispered to herself as she looked both ways in the lobby. "I'm…gonna…try…this way." She said, going to her left.

Walking around for ten minutes, she finally found the kitchen. She crept inside, looking through the cupboards and trying to find what she needed.

"Ahem…" A voice huffed.

Lavender, scared, whipped around with her eyes and hands glowing a deepened black. Then she relaxed, seeing who it was.

"Alfred?" She questioned.

"Miss, what are you doing up so late?" He asked.

"I…uh…I couldn't sleep. I…I'm sorry." She said as she sat on the floor, covering her head.

Alfred walked over to a nearby cupboard and set two mugs on the counter before walking over to the stove and setting a kettle of water on to boil. Lavender looked up carefully, questioning.

"You…You're not mad?" She sniffled.

"Of course not. Do you honestly believe you are the first one I caught up so late for hot chocolate?"

"Really?" Lavender questioned. Alfred walked over, helping Lavender to her feet again. "T—Thank you."

"You are welcome. Now…do you put milk in your hot chocolate?"

"Milk?"

"It really is quite good. It cools it down just enough." Alfred smiled.

"Uh…Sure…I guess I could try it. Thank you."

Lavender leaned against the island as she watched Alfred make two mugs of hot chocolate.

"So…Rob—I mean…"

"You mean…Master Drake?"

"Drake?"

"You don't know? Oh, well I suppose Batman has still forbidden them from revealing their identities."

"Tell me now…Since you already me."

"Alright, but you didn't hear it from me." Alfred sighed as he placed a mug in front of Lavender.

"Deal…" Lavender said before taking a sip of her drink. "Hmm…That is good."

Lavender stayed up, talking all about Nightwing, Robin, and Batgirl with Alfred. Then the conversation turned to Batman, if only briefly as Lavender noticed the time and yawned gently.

"It's getting pretty late…Thank you once again for the hot chocolate, Alfred."

"You are welcome, Miss. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Lavender yawned as she disappeared to her room for the night.

Back at Base, Mirabella had laid on her bed ever since Garfield had brought her back. She wasn't talking or moving or anything she usually did. Garfield watched her, transformed into a hawk, on the railing above. Mal came from behind, petting Garfield on the head.

"Gar…you should get some sleep." Mal said.

Garfield transformed back, jumping off the railing and landing next to Mal.

"I can't…I'm worried about Mirabella. She's been acting so weird lately."

"She's had a lot of news lately, Gar. It's probably just hitting her pretty hard. Try to cheer her up in the morning, will ya?" Mal yawned.

Garfield looked back down at Mirabella, her back faced to him from above, but he knew she was crying silently. He climbed down to the level below before walking over to Mirabella's bed. He sat on the edge, stroking her hair gingerly. Mirabella grabbed his hand before turning over on her back.

"Garfield…" She said before crying.

Garfield laid down next to her before Mirabella turned into him, crying harder.

"Shh…It's alright, Mirabee…It's alright…It's going to be alright…" He continued whispering to her as they both fell asleep.

As the two laid there, Mirabella in Garfield's arms, Conner had walked over and covered them with a blanket. Then he stroked Mirabella's face gently, wiping away a stray tear left sitting on her cheek. Then he left for bed himself. Back at Gotham Hospital, Bart had changed into regular clothing, sitting in a large chair next to Aster's still bed. He held her hand to his mouth, trying not to cry. He took a deep breath before resting her hand back on the soft bed.

"Oh, what did I do?" Bart whispered to himself. "What do I do now…now that you're…asleep?" Then he leaned back, laughing softly and pressing the palm of his hand on his forehead. "Great…I'm talking to a person who probably can't even hear me right now."

"Actually, it'd be better if you talk to her." A nurse said in the doorway, startling Bart a little. "Oops, sorry. I was just bringing you a blanket and pillow, since I believe you're staying overnight, when I overheard you talking."

"Thank you…" Bart said as he took the bed items. The nurse was about to disappear when Bart grabbed her arm. "Uh…before…you said something about talking to her is better. What'd you mean by that?"

"Oh, well…The doctors are always telling family and friends that if you talk to the patient, it'll help bring them back sooner. It helps…kind of like a beacon. A light telling them to come back, if you will."

"Huh…I'll try it. I would try anything to get my Aster back…I've almost lost her twice. This is the third time now."

The nurse rested a hand on Bart's shoulder.

"It can never hurt. I hope she wakes up soon. Good night." The nurse said as she slipped from the room.

Bart took a deep breath, not knowing what to do.

"Okay…where do I begin?"

Brat sat there, thinking about what to talk about. After a while, his thoughts drifted around Aster. All the times he had been with her, even all the times before they were a couple. The first time he saw her, rather knocked her over, then there was the mission to save Mirabella, he loved the way she had danced. Then his thoughts drifted around the feelings of when she almost died twice before. When she blew up and he confessed his love for her, and then when she had an asthma attack before, finding out about her asthma the hard way. He remembered every single little detail Aster had expressed when he listened to her about her childhood, all the loneliness she felt without her family supporting her or friends to cheer her up. At least Bart had one friend, someone he had helped. That's when Bart sat up straight from resting his head on the bed, thinking of Aster's listening, how she always told him that she listen to him until the end if she had to. He took a deep breath before stroking her hair gently.

"Alright…You've wanted to listen, so I'll talk now." He sighed. "As you already know, I came from the year 2056, not the greatest time." He chuckled.

Bart continued talking about his family, his parents and aunt, and the rest of his 'happy' family. He talked about how they all had died, leaving him all alone. He talked about the plans he made, the threats he made to people who hurt him, and the one friend he always had, how he helped him in this time already. Bart told her how he knew he was going to be stuck in the past, how he didn't want to go back to the horrible time he had lived in for fifteen years, give or take. He especially didn't want to go back now, leaving her all alone, he just wouldn't be able to do that. After all the explaining he did to Aster, Bart had curled up on the chair at four in the morning.

"And…then there was…" Bart paused to yawn. "…there was this woman who gave me the blue prints for the time machine. Gave me plans to follow when I got here and not to find her, but…I want to. I want to find her and…thank her." He yawned again as he covered up with a blanket. "Thank her for sending me to you." He said sleepily as he drifted into sleep.


	27. Protector Mirabella and Broken Lavender

Chapter Twenty-Seven

_**May 13**_

At the Base, Mirabella woke up late and walked into what was the team's kitchen, where the three guys had been. Garfield jumped off his seat, somersaulting in the air, and landed in front of her.

"Morning, Mirabella."

"Morning, Garfield." She replied heavy hearted as she looked at the other two boys. She sighed heavily. "I'm going next door to paint." She said sadly as she walked away.

"Wow…What's wrong with her?" Mal questioned, Conner elbowing him in the side. "Ow…I mean…uh…"

"Don't worry about it, Mal…I just wish she would talk to me."Garfield said.

"Then go talk to her, Gar. Mal and I are going into town anyways." Conner said.

"I'll try. Hopefully she won't run away like she's been doing." Garfield replied as he walked away.

"Why are we going into town, Conner?" Mal questioned after Garfield left the warehouse.

"To leave the two of them alone…Geez…Plus, to get something to eat." Conner said before the two left.

In the next warehouse, Mirabella had been painting a beautiful piece of abstract art, playing her mp3 player loud in her ears. She had been humming to the music until someone covered eyes, causing her to yelp and transform into a wolf cub. She turned around, seeing it was Garfield. She growled and bit his ankle.

"Ow! Mirabella!" Garfield shouted as he jumped up onto the easel she was working at.

Mirabella changed back, trying to save her painting.

"Garfield, get down!"She shouted as she waved her arms at him to get down.

"What? I'm not hurting anything." Garfield chuckled.

"Garfield…please…" She whined.

"Alright…alright…" Garfield said as he carefully climbed down. "There…I'm down." Gar said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Thank you…" Mirabella said as she pulled away, returning to her painting.

"Hey…" Garfield walked over, getting her attention from the painting. "Why are you so mad at me?"

She turned around to Garfield, "I'm not mad to you." Mirabella said, her voice stern.

"Well, you seem like it." Garfield said. Mirabella was about to turn back to her painting, but Garfield turned her back to him, holding her by the forearms gently. "Mirabella…you've been distant lately. You don't kiss me like you used to. You haven't been eating very well either. What's going on, Mirabee?" Mirabella slipped from Garfield's hands, turning around and holding her arms across herself. "Mirabella…please? Tell me what I did wrong."

Mirabella whipped around, kissing Garfield deeply. After a moment, she pulled away gently.

"Garfield Logan, how could you ever think I was mad at you?"

"Well…if you're not mad at me…then what's wrong?" Mirabella looked away, only to have Garfield gently turn her face back up to his. "Mirabella…?"

She sighed heavily, hugging Garfield. He held her gently but close to himself.

"It's…my powers…"

Garfield pushed her off quickly, holding her forearms.

"What? What happened? I thought you could control them now."

"I…I can…" Mirabella stepped away a little. "But only…a part of it though."

"Part…of it? Uh…You lost me, Mirabella. What are you talking about?"

"Garfield…my powers…they're kind of…like yours."

"Mine? Wait…" Garfield held Mirabella's shoulders gently, smiling. "You can turn into…_different_ animals? Like…"

"Garfield…they're **kind of **like yours."

"What do you mean **kind of**?" Mirabella walked a couple feet away, taking a deep breath. "Mirabella?"

"Wait…Watch, Garfield." Mirabella ordered quietly, but loud enough for him to hear.

Garfield stood there, confused, as he watched his girlfriend try to concentrate. After a minute, Mirabella's skin started to grow red, orange, and golden feathers. She shrunk into a medium bird with beautiful and fiery feathers, a short black beak, her eyes were still that crystal blue, and her feet were long talons. Mirabella hopped a step closer before opening her wings and squawking loudly and beautifully. Garfield fell back on the ground, a little freaked out. She walked to Garfield's side, rubbing her head against his shoulder.

"S—So…that's what you meant, huh? You can turn into a…phoenix?" Garfield stood up, gently picking up Mirabella carefully. "That's actually pretty cool…When did you find this out, Mirabella?"

He set her back on the ground before Mirabella covered her head with her wings and changed back.

"I…I found out two days ago. I was waiting for you at Star Labs, when Aster…" She trailed off. "…and just before you came, I turned into a…a…" Mirabella trailed off once again.

"What?" Garfield questioned, holding Mirabella's hands gently.

"I turned into a Harpy, Garfield."

"A Harpy? What's a Harpy exactly?"

Mirabella scoffed before answering, "A Harpy is a mythical creature, Garfield! I turn into mythical creatures!"

Mirabella turned away, crying into her hands. Garfield instantly pulled Mirabella into a hug.

"Mirabee, I'm sorry. I haven't learned a lot about mythical creatures." Garfield whispered as he stroked her hair carefully. "Mirabella, it's nothing bad…"

"Yes, it is…I can turn into killer creatures…"

"Then try not to…We just have to practice harder, that's all."

Mirabella sniffled before looking up Garfield.

"Really? You'll still help me…even though I'm a…monster?"

"Of course…And…" Garfield pressed his lips onto Mirabella's, gently pulling away a moment later. "…you are _**no **_monster, Mirabella. You are amazing and beautiful. You could never hurt anyone on purpose."

Mirabella's frown faded into a giant smile before she hugged Garfield tightly.

"Thank you! Oh, I love you, Garfield!"

"I love you, too." Garfield said gently as he hugged her back. After a moment, they pulled away. "Come on; let's get started by moving everything around so we have some space."

"Okay…" Mirabella said. Garfield went to start pushing things out of the way until Mirabella grabbed his wrist and pulled him close and her hands intertwined behind his head. "But first…"

She used her intertwined hands to pull Garfield close, kissing him hard. Garfield was caught by surprise for a second before wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her back. Mirabella pulled away, giggling slightly, but it faded quickly as she sighed heavily.

"Mirabee?" Garfield questioned.

"I miss Aster…And the way things were before…Why did all of this happen?"

"Just the way it's supposed to be, I guess. Hey…" Garfield smiled as he lifted Mirabella's head up, looking at him. "If none of this happened, I wouldn't have met the most amazing girl in my entire life."

"Really?"

"Hmm-mm…" Garfield curled his fingers into her hair, pressing his forehead against hers. "I don't think I could ever be happier without you."

Mirabella smiled as she held Garfield's wrists.

"I'm glad you found me back in January." Mirabella said.

"I am too…" Garfield pulled away. "Alright, let's get started on your training."

"Right!" Mirabella agreed.

Back at Gotham Hospital, Bart had stepped from the room, only to stand in the hallway. A nurse, being so nice, had brought him a warm drink, which Bart only gingerly sipped. Bart sighed heavily, sitting in a chair and holding his head with his free hand.

"Wow…you don't look good."

Bart looked up, seeing Arsenal in regular clothing.

"Roy? What are you doing here?"

"She **is **my sister. How's she doing?" Roy replied as he looked into Aster's room.

Bart groaned, stress and worry taking over his entire body.

"Nothing's changed…and the doctors. The doctors are saying…" Bart trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence.

"What?" Roy questioned, looking down at Bart. He sat in the chair next to him. "What did the doctors say?"

"They're saying…she may…**never** wake up."

"I'm sure she will. Aster's strong."

Bart looked up at Roy in surprise.

"Wow…That's really nice of you to say."

"Aster…she's my sister. I feel bad about what happened to her. I really do. But she if got through the _experiments _the Reach did on her, she can get through this too…I sure of it."

"Yeah…She's really strong, but I don't know if she go through it alone."

"There's my grandson!"

Bart looked down the hallway, seeing Barry, and Iris. Bart stood up, running over in a normal speed.

"Gramps, I'm glad you came."

"Hey kiddo. Sorry I haven't been around lately. It's been pretty busy. How's she doing?"

Bart's eyes widened only slightly, before his head drooped down. He turned and walked back to the doorframe. Roy walked over to Barry and Iris.

"It…does look good." Roy replied to Barry's earlier question. "The doctors are saying she might never wake up."

Barry slapped his forehead, groaning in realization of why Bart didn't answer. Iris dug in her purse, pulling out some pieces of wrinkled paper. She glanced at Bart, smiling softly.

"Barry, why don't you and…I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

"My name's Roy Harper. I'm Aster's brother."

Barry was surprised; he didn't know this about Roy at all. Before he could ask or say anything, Iris shook his hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Roy. I'm sure Aster's glad to have you here with her."

"I haven't exactly been brother of the year lately, but I hope she is."

"Oh, uh…Barry, why don't you take Roy and go get something to eat in the cafeteria?"

"Uh…" Roy started before Iris held up her hand.

"No arguments…Go on. I'll stay here with Bart and Aster."

The two left slowly, and after they were gone, Iris walked over to Bart.

"Bart…?" He glanced up from the corner of his eye at his grandmother. "Bart, here. Jay gave me this."

Bart turned his body toward Iris, who was holding out the small stack of wrinkled paper. He gently took the papers, looking over them only to have stray tears run down his face. Bart sat on the chair next to him, almost missing it, holding himself up by his elbows digging into his legs. Iris sat down next to him, resting a hand on Bart's shoulder.

"It's a song…for Aster…is it?"

Bart nodded stiffly. He wiped some tears away, only to have them smudge across his cheeks.

"Jay…helped me write it." Bart sniffled.

"Then sing it to her…" Iris demanded, only to have Bart look around to her.

"What?"

"Sing it to her, Bart. She'll love it." Iris said.

Bart wiped more of his stray tears across his cheeks. He stood up, about to go into Aster's room only to be stopped by his communicator going off. Bart pressed the button on the communicator, answering it.

"What…What's going on, Nightwing?"

Iris was disappointed, she knew Bart wanted to stay but she also knew Bart couldn't if it was an emergency.

"Alright…Yeah, I'm going…" Bart hung up, sighing heavily afterward.

"You **have **to go…now?" Iris questioned.

"Unfortunately, yeah. Barry and I both have to go."

That's when Roy and Barry returned.

"You got the call already?" Barry questioned.

"Yeah…" Bart sighed.

Iris thought before popping up with an idea.

"I'll stay."

"What?" The two speedsters questioned.

"Yeah…I'll stay here to watch Aster while you two go on your mission."

"I'll stay too." Roy said as he walked over to Iris. "It's time I become a better brother anyways."

"Are you two sure?" Barry questioned.

"Positive… We'll watch her until you two get back." Roy replied.

Then Bart sighed heavily before the two quickly suited up.

"Come on. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get back." Flash said.

Impulse walked over to Aster's bed, stroking her neatly set hair. He leaned down so he was next to her ear.

"I promise…I'll be back as soon as I can, Sunshine." Impulse whispered before kissing her forehead.

Then, hesitantly, Impulse ran off with his grandfather, hoping he made the right decision. After they had disappeared, Iris walked inside and sat in the big chair Bart had occupied as his bed. Roy sat on another chair on the other side of the bed. He gently touched Aster's hand, pulling away and sighing heavily.

"Roy…" He looked up at Iris saying his name. "…go on and hold her hand. I'm sure she's scared."

"Do you really think so?"

"Yeah…" Then Iris stood up. "I'm going to get something to eat. Would you like something?"

"No, thanks."

"Okay…"

After Iris disappeared, Roy looked at Aster, her unmoving body just laying there. Then he looked at her hand, just there in front of him. He sighed heavily.

"You're strong, Aster…but I'm here…if you need help through anything going on in that head of yours." Roy said as he held her hand tightly.

After a long moment, the quiet of the room was broken from a gentle groan echoing. Roy looked at his sister, her eyes moving slightly.

"Aster? Come back, sis…Come on." Roy said gently.

That's when Iris walked back into the room, a muffin in hand.

"I brought you back a blueberry muffin just in case you got hungry, Roy."

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks. Iris…Aster groaned. Her eyes moved."

"What?" Iris walked over to the bed, looking at Aster, her eyes moved slightly. "Oh…she must be waking up. Roy, get a doctor."

Roy nodded and left to get a doctor, only to return with a woman soon after. The doctor looked over Aster, seeing the movement and hearing the slight groaning.

"I believe she is waking up…" Iris and Roy smiled. "Maybe not now, maybe not even today, but soon for sure. She should be awake before the end of the week."

"Oh, thank you, Doctor…" Iris trailed off.

"Oh, I'm Dr. Wilson. And you're very much welcome. She's a very strong young girl, she's lucky to get through this."

Then Dr. Wilson left. Back in El Paso, Jaime was sitting in his room, trying to do some homework when a knock emerged from his door frame. Looking up, he practically jumped at who it was.

"Lavender?"

"Hey, Jaime…Can we talk?" Lavender questioned.

"Come on in. Here, sit down." Jaime said as he moved his homework out of the way, leaving a place for Lavender to sit down, which she did. "Uh…I… I haven't seen you in a few weeks. How is everything?"

"Good…I'm good. Look, we really need to talk, Jaime."

"Okay, what about?"

"Listen, I don't know what's been going on, but…" She interrupted by Jaime's cell phone ringing.

"Sorry…it's Nightwing. One second." Jaime picked up the cell phone. "Hola…"

Lavender listened to Jaime, she loved how he was bilingual, speaking Spanish every now and again, but this time was different. It seemed…forced, unnatural to the usual way he would speak. It was almost…faked, which Lavender knew couldn't be true considering his family is Hispanic and they all always spoke Spanish, along with English so she could understand them. After a while, Jaime hung up the phone, sighing heavily.

"What was that all about?" Lavender questioned, trying to pretend not hear the maxed volume phone call.

"The Star kids all escaped. I have to go find them."

"Can I come with? The search will give us time to talk…"

"…Fine…" Jaime sighed as his armor appeared.

Vines closed around Lavender only for a brief moment before disappearing and revealing Thorn in her uniform.

"Wow…When'd you learn that trick?" Blue questioned.

"Last week. The Bat kids have been helping me with some extra training. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah…" Blue said dreamily before shaking his head. "Uh…I mean…Never mind, let's just go."

Thorn looked disappointed; she thought she was pulling Blue back into her, but apparently not. Then, after Blue picked up Thorn, they flew off to find the missing teens. Arriving at the bus depot in Taos, New Mexico, the roof was lifted clean off as a tall figure emerged from the building.

"Well, what do you think?" Thorn, not paying attention to the situation in front of her, questioned.

"Uh…We'll have to finish this conversation later."

"What?"

"Uh…That is not what I expected…" Blue said, staring at the tall figure in front of them.

Thorn looked, seeing Tye in the middle of the tall figure.

"Tye?...Okay, okay…Set me down." Blue set her on the ground.

"Everyone, stay calm. The situation is under control." Blue said just before Tye slammed a huge fist on top of Blue.

"Blue!" Thorn screamed, forgetting his armor protects him. Tye picked her up with the other three teens Tye escaped with from Star Labs. "Tye!"

"I don't think he can hear us!" Virgil, from the other hand, shouted over.

Back on the ground, Blue got up, a little bit of pain drifting over his body. But he ignored it as he flew over to the scientist and lead of the task force.

"Go back to Star. I'll handle this." Blue said before following his friend.

Following Tye, he stopped in the distant forest, the figure disappearing gently as Tye started to wake up.

"How did I…Ugh…It happened again, didn't it? I thought I was dreaming."

"No dream, trust me."

"Blue!" Thorn shouted as she ran over. "Are you alright?"

"It's okay. My armor, remember?"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

"It's okay…" Blue stepped around Thorn, facing the four teens. "I'm not here to hurt you."

"Neither of you are." Thorn added.

"But you four need to go back to Star."

"Look, I recognize you two, you're two of the heroes that saved us all from the Reach."

"But you two just don't get it." Tye finished for Virgil.

"No, Tye…I really do." Blue said as his armor deformed around his body and revealed himself.

"Jaime? But h—how?"

"It's a long story, but it started with this scarab." Jaime said as he lifted his shirt and sweater over his head, showing the scarab attacked to his back. "It was built to both give me powers and control me. So believe me, ese, I get it."

"Fine…You're one of us, but you're flying around free as a…beetle." Virgil said.

"He's not the only one, Virgil…" Thorn said, her vines concealing her for a brief moment before revealing herself as Lavender.

"Lavender?" Virgil questioned.

"I couldn't tell you earlier. I'm sorry."

"B—But how? When did you…?"

"Back in October, I was captured by the very same people who captured you four, I was experimented on by the Reach and I got the power over plants." Lavender explained as her eyes glowed black, a vine wrapping itself gently around Virgil. "So…I get it too…"

Virgil shivered as he escaped the vine, which shrunk into a flowering plant.

"Sorry. It gets weird when my vines touch people. But you see now?"

"No, because you're both free, Lavender. And you still expect us to be lab rats for Star." Virgil said.

"No more, amigos. Not for the Reach or Star." Eduardo said.

"They're right. You can't take us back to Star." Tye added.

Jaime sighed heavily, Lavender standing between the distance that set everyone into two _groups_, in a way. She thought Jaime had things under control.

"Tye, what's the alternative? I let you run loose until the Reach snatches you up again?"

"No…We're going to my parent's place so they can…"

"…get hurt or killed trying to protect you? That's your plan?" Jaime shouted.

Lavender ran over, blocking Jaime from the others. Tye realized why Lavender said no to him the month before.

"Jaime, calm down." Lav said before turning around. "Virgil, he's right. Your family…**our **family…could get hurt, killed or worse if you go to them. Why do you think Star was helping you stay safe? They protecting your families."

Then Asami questioned, in Japanese, if they could really help.

"Hai. We can help you."

"Dude, you speak Japanese?" Tye questioned his friend.

"The scarab translates. Don't ask."

"I spent a little time in Japan before…everything. I can speak a little." Lavender walked over to Asami, holding one of her hands gently. "Yunjin, Asami-san?"

Asami gasped slightly, no one has ever been able to understand her until now.

"Hai…Yunjin…"

Lavender smiled, tilting her head slightly in amusement. Then the two girls laughed slightly, feeling comfortable.

"Arigato, Asami-san."

"Dōitashimashite uh…Rabenda-san."

"Rabenda-san?" Virgil questioned.

"It's how you say my name in Japanese. So, what's the plan, Jaime, if we don't bring them back to Star?" Lavender questioned.

"We've got this friend, Green Beetle. He helped me, I think he can help you too. He's not far from here. We can take you to him." Jaime replied.

The guys started walking, Asami not really sure what was going on. Lavender held one of Asami's hands in both of hers, smiling softly.

"Kuru, Asami-san. Ryokushoku no kabutomushi." Asami was unsure of what to think. "Asami-san, watashi o shinrai shite kudasai?"

Asami nodded and followed her new friend closely. Back at the warehouse, Mirabella and Garfield had been training all day with Mirabella's new known abilities. She had just transformed back from a small nymph flying around.

"Oh, I did it! I really did it!" Mirabella cheered as she hugged her boyfriend. "Thank you, Garfield. You have no idea how much I appreciate it." Mirabella whispered.

"Believe me…I do know." They let go.

Mirabella was going to kiss him but she stepped back, holding her head and scrambling around, twisting and turning.

"Mirabella? Mirabella, what's wrong?"

"It hurts! My head!" Mirabella shouted.

"_M'Gann! M'Gann, I need your help…NOW!_" Garfield shouted in his thoughts.

"_Garfield? What's wrong?_"

"_It's Mirabella! Come quick!_"

After what seemed like forever, M'Gann rushed into the building with Conner, Nightwing and Mal right behind her. Mirabella was being held by Garfield, trying to keep her still.

"Garfield! What's going on here?"

"M'Gann!" Garfield fell back on the ground, releasing Mirabella to scrambling around in pain once more. Garfield sat up as the other three ran over. "I don't know what's wrong with her! We were training her new abilities and then she suddenly started doing this and just before you showed up, she started speaking another language! I think it's Egyptian!"

"Egyptian?" Nightwing questioned.

"I don't know! It sounded like it African, but it distant from it at the same time!" Garfield shouted in a panic.

"Okay, Gar. Calm down…We'll help her…if we can get her to stop moving first." M'Gann said.

Nightwing took out a small vial, throwing it at Mirabella's feet and incasing her feet in a red solid foam substance. M'Gann walked over, placing her hands on either side of Mirabella's head, and entering it.

"Another form is trying to come out, but it's hurting her." M'Gann reported as she exited Mirabella's head.

"What do we do?" Garfield questioned.

"Mirabella, listen to me…Let it take over. Just let it come out."

"It…hurts…" Mirabella strained.

"I know, sweetie, but it's the only way to make it _**stop **_hurting. Okay? I'm right here with you. So is Garfield." M'Gann said as she pulled Garfield over, locking their hands together.

"Garfield?" Mirabella questioned.

"I'm here, Mirabee…Do what M'Gann says, please."

"Okay…" Mirabella groaned before a bright light emitted from Mirabella.

After a while, it died down and Mirabella's eyes were still glowing a bright yellow.

"Mirabella?" Garfield questioned.

"My name is Khepri." A male voice rang over Mirabella's original voice.

"Khepri was the Egyptian god who protected the scarab, which was a symbol of the sun's movement."

"That is correct. I was reborn inside this body as a spirit to protect the blue scarab that landed on Earth thousands of years ago."

"What?" Garfield questioned.

Nightwing thought for a second before realizing who Khepri was talking about.

"You mean Blue Beetle. You're supposed to make sure the scarab stays off mode, right?"

"That is correct again."

"But why did you come out now?" M'Gann questioned.

"This body has been fighting me for some time now, and has not truly known it."

"That's because it's a young girl who has a life, not to be some one's **host **body or anything!" Garfield shouted.

M'Gann snapped a look to her younger brother.

"He is correct, the one named M'Gann I believe. She does have a life that I do not wish to interrupt. I will return her control."

After a moment, Mirabella's eyes faded back to crystal blue and collapsed, folding over the substance that kept her still. M'Gann floated over, destiny shifting Mirabella out and onto the floor gently. She groaned awake, Garfield holding her up.

"G—Garfield? What happened?"

"You…uh…You…"

"You're the protector of Blue Beetle, or at least, you have the original Egyptian protector inside of you." Nightwing replied.

"You mean…Khepri? I have the spirit of Khepri inside me? How?"

"He said he was reborn inside of you as a spirit to protect the scarab of Blue Beetle that landed on Earth thousands of years ago." Conner replied.

Mirabella was speechless, she didn't know **what **to say to that at all. They just sat there and tried to figure the whole thing out. Everyone thought the scarab was still off mode, but it wasn't. Back in Taos, Lavender had escaped Blue with the four teens after the news crew showed up. They returned to the bus depot, it now destroyed.

"Is it really a good idea to come back here?" Eduardo questioned.

"It's perfect! No one would think to look here. Well, not a second time." Virgil replied.

"Virgil, we need to find a place to stay." Lavender said, in regular clothing after the harsh battle she went through. She sat on a large piece of rubble, only for it to move and her fall on the ground.

"Lavender!" Tye shouted, running over to help her up.

"I'm fine! Ugh…I'm a klutz." Lavender said as she stood up.

"No, you're not, Lav. You're just…trying to get used to your powers. That's all." Virgil smiled, trying to make her feel better.

"Thanks, Virgil." Lavender chuckled.

"I'm done running." Tye said.

"Yo tambien. So now what?"

"No idea…" Virgil, Eduardo, Tye and Lavender all said together.

"Toraburu!" Asami shouted as she pointed to the parking lot, where a limo drove up. (By the way, this is what she really should've said.)

"That means trouble." Lavender translated.

"No idea…" Asami said as she gave two thumbs up to her friends.

Then a man and a woman exited the car, walking over to them.

"Hey…You're Lex Luthor."Virgil recognized.

"In the flesh. And you would be Virgil Hawkins, Asami Koizumi, Eduardo Dorado, Tye Longshadow and Lavender Wilson…"

"That's not my last name." Lavender said, anger lacing every word.

"I'm sorry. Your father was…ruthless, wasn't he?"

"Leave me alone." Lavender pouted.

"Wait a minute, you know us?" Tye questioned.

"Know you? My boy, I've watching over you for weeks. I even arranged the power outage that vacillated your escape for Star. Not to mention, the timely arrival of the press that enabled you to allude Blue Beetle, who I'm sure you've figured out, has become an agent of the Reach."

"No, that's not true!" Lavender argued.

"It's hard to believe, I know. But it is very true indeed."

Lavender sat on a sturdy piece of rubble, holding her head and groaning slightly in disappointment in herself.

"But you work for the Reach. You make their refreshco, their beverage." Eduardo said.

"True, but I've come to suspect they've been using me for their own ends. And I think you know what that feels like. It's a dangerous world. Fortunately, I have the resources to protect you."

That's when Lavender stood back up.

"Yeah, heard that before. What do you want? You know, besides make my best friend break down." Virgil replied.

"Virgil, I'll be okay. But he's right. What do you want, Luthor?" Lavender questioned.

"To empower you. Not meta-powers, you're doing just fine on that front. Instead, I want to help you five take control of your own destinies." Then he explained the same thing to Asami, who was thankful. "There is no pressure my friends. I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do. But I'm hoping you can trust me. What do you say?"

"I—I don't know. Lavender, you know this guy better than any of us. What do you think?" Tye questioned.

"Uh…You promise, no harm to us? No backstabbing us to **your **own ends? And this isn't some trick to bring us back to the Reach?"

"I assure you, my dear, this is no joke or trick or whatever you would like to call it. Back a few months ago, I know you broke into my labs and tried to destroy it, but I am willing to let it slide if you trust me."

Lavender thought long and hard about this deal, Lex holding out his hand. After a few minutes, Lavender gripped hands with him.

"Alright. Deal." Lavender said.

"Good, now let's get you five an apartment to stay at." Lex said as he turned to his assistant.  
"Wait…Can I…Can I still go to the team…if I don't tell them anything?" Lavender questioned.

"Of course, my dear. And tell them anything you want. It doesn't have to be a secret to your sisters."

"Sisters?" Virgil questioned.

"Aster and Mirabella." Lavender replied.

"Aster's…your older sister?"

"Metaphorically, yes. And Mirabella's my younger one."

After disguising terms with Lex, they went to an apartment in Taos. It was small, but big enough for the five of them to stay in.

"Lav, you sure you want to do this?" Virgil questioned.

"I'm positive, Virgil. There's nothing left for me back on the team except my sisters. What am I supposed to do?" Lavender replied.

"Uh… Rabenda-san?"

"Asami-san? Anata wa daijōbudesu?"

"Hai. Uh… Anata ga heya o kyōyū suru?"

"Heya o kyoyu suru…anata to?"

"Hai…"

"Sure. Virgil, I'm gonna stay with Asami in her room, if it's okay."

"Sure…" He stopped Lavender just before she out of reach. "…if you ever **don't **want to be here, just say. You can leave, okay?"

"I will. Thanks. And don't worry…when I go to the team for help, I won't say a thing to them. I promise."

"I know you won't." Virgil smiled.

Lavender returned the smile before disappearing into the room Asami was waiting in the doorway of. The two girls closed the door behind them.

"Hermano, is it really a good idea to trust her?"

"Ed, I know her. She wouldn't tell anyone. Not even her _sisters_. She'll keep it a secret. I trust her fully."

"Okay…but if they find us…"

"I know, Tye. But they won't because Lavender won't tell."

Then the boys went to their own rooms for the night.


	28. An Enlightening of Events That Wilts

Chapter Twenty-Eight

_**May 15:**_

Lavender woke up early, before the sun even rose, and had a quick shower and breakfast before leaving her friends in the apartment Lex Luthor provided. Prior to closing to the door, she peered back in the living room to see her four friends fast asleep. Lavender smiled softly.

"Don't worry. I'll keep my promise." She whispered before quietly closing the door with a click.

A couple of hours passed, the four teens Lavender left started stirring awake to a wristwatch on the coffee table beeping loudly.

"Ugh…Hermano…Virgil, turn it off." Eduardo groaned as he turned onto his back on the floor.

A moment later, the wristwatch exploded from the overload of electricity.

"Who set up the alarm? And what time is it?" Virgil groaned as he sat up in the chair he had fallen asleep in.

Tye leaned from his comfortable position on the couch to look at the clock hanging in the kitchen. He groaned as he laid back down.

"It's nine o'clock." Tye replied.

"Nine o'clock? That's usually when Lavender wakes up. Right, Lav?" There was no response. "Lav?" Virgil looked at the spot Lavender had occupied the night before, but it was empty.

"She's gone! Great, she's probably gone to tell her friends where we are!" Eduardo shouted.

"Hey! Lavender wouldn't do that, man! I'm telling you, when she promises she keeps it!" Virgil argued back.

He hated when anyone talked bad about his best friend, it just made him so angry to hear the negative about his friend when he **knew **it wasn't true.

"Then where'd she go?!" Tye shouted.

"Let me try her cell, will ya?" Virgil questioned as he pulled out his cell phone.

Dialing the number to Lavender's cell, Virgil closed his cell a moment later.

"Well?" Eduardo questioned.

"Voicemail." Virgil replied with a sigh.

In Ivy Town, Black Thorn appeared in a small garden outside an old complex. Looking around, no one was around. She rushed over to the middle of the dirt parking lot, a spout pushing through the ground. Thorn kneeled on the ground, covering the small plant with her hands.

"Don't worry. I won't let Ivy get you…or destroy you." Thorn whispered.

Her hands glowed slightly, black light engulfed the spout. A moment later, Thorn removed her hands and the spout had become a flower. A single dark blue rose, no thorns. She gently picked it.

"This will help…hopefully." Thorn said to herself.

She looked around again, no one around. She rushed back to the zeta tube nearby and zeta-ed out of the complex lot. Back at the apartment, the four had been freaking out a little for the last half an hour.

"Great! Now we'll be sent back to Star because we let her stay with us!" Tye shouted.

"Hey, last time I checked, you were all over Lav! You wouldn't care if she sent us back there!"

"I'm not _all over _heranymore! Not since I found out why she said no."

"What do you mean?"

Before Tye could answer, the door clicked opened. Lavender backed into the apartment with one paper bag in her arm, and trying to pull three more into the apartment. Then she saw the three awake and stopped in the door way.

"Morning, guys." Lavender said.

"Lav? Where were you?" Virgil questioned, standing from his seat.

"Well, let's see…I had to talk to Nightwing, don't worry. You're locations secret. He thinks I'm staying at the hospital with Aster."

"Aster? She's still in the hospital?" Virgil questioned.

"Yeah…But the doctors said she should wake up soon. I went to go see her and Mirabella. I told no one, don't worry. And then, obviously, I went to the store for food." Lavender explained as she tried to get the bags into the apartment with one hand. One bag was stuck, and as Lavender pulled on it, she fell backward after the bag torn open. "Stupid me…"

"You okay?"

"I had to drag five heavy bags of food all the way upstairs, Virgil. Really…?"

"Right, sorry."

Asami ran over, picking up a couple of bags, and carried them into the kitchen.

"Arigato, Asami-san." Lavender said as she stood up, then she noticed the other three staring at her. "Well? Are you just going to let the two girls get all of this or what?" She snapped as she picked up the items from the broken bag.

The three guys walked over, carrying the rest of the groceries into the kitchen and setting them on the counters.

"There. You want some help putting them away?" Tye questioned.

"Sure. Thank you, Tye." Lavender replied as she started putting cans into a cupboard.

The others left to do whatever, Asami stopping around the corner, but no one saw her. She was listening in on Lavender and Tye's conversation.

"So…How long have you and Jaime been dating?" Tye questioned, breaking the deadening silence.

"Oh…Um…For a couple of months…" Then Lavender looked down at the necklace she had been wearing.

"Is that Jaime's mom's necklace?"

"Yeah…She gave it to me…She said it was a reminder that their door is always open."

"Huh…" Tye replied, picking up another can and setting on the counter again. He sighed heavily. "How's…your relationship? I mean, since you found out about Jaime being…controlled…"

"I…don't know…" Lavender replied, a little surprised that Tye had figured it out. She didn't want to tell him, hurt his feelings in the process. "I waited for so long to find someone like him and the only way we met was because the Reach took me first. Now…he's gone and…Mah!"

Lavender was cut off by a pressing kiss. Her sudden surprise was drowned into affection. She wrapped her hands around Tye's head, curling her fingers into his hair. Pulling him closer, Lavender deepened the kiss. After a moment, they pulled apart gently.

"Uh…" Lavender slipped from Tye's arms. "…What did we…just do?"

"I…don't know. I'm sorry." Tye replied, hitting his forehead with the side of his fist. "I shouldn't have done that. You obviously like Jaime."

Tye started walking away, Lavender grabbing his hand. Pulling him back, she managed to spin him around in the process, and kiss him again. Asami was watching this time, feeling her heart break slightly. Asami, unable to obtain the pain anymore, walked away to her bedroom. Back at Gotham Hospital, Bart and Mirabella were sitting in the room. Stardust was hiding between the window and Mirabella's body, resting on the seat. Roy walked back into the room, holding two cups of hot drinks, handing one to Bart, who looked up at him in surprise and question.

"You need something to eat. I couldn't get anything from the vending machine, so I got a couple of drinks." Roy explained, noticing the confusion on Bart's face.

"Thanks." Bart said, taking the drink carefully.

Roy walked over to Mirabella, handing her the other cup.

"You looked cold." Roy said, smiling slightly.

Mirabella took the cup, holding it with both of her hands. Taking a small sip, she carefully set it next to her on the chair.

"Thank you." She said.

Roy ruffled her hair a little, making Mirabella smile. It reminded her of what Lavender used to do after training at the Cave, ruffling her brownie colored hair a little in happiness that she was doing better. The moment broke when a groan echoed from Aster. Mirabella got up, Stardust climbing on her back, and ran over with Roy in follow. Bart had stood to his feet in hopes that Aster was finally waking up.

"Aster…Come on, Aster. Please, wake up." Mirabella said, gently touching Aster's hand.

After a moment, Aster's eyes begun to flutter open, wincing in the bright lights of the room. Bart gripped her hand, tight but not too tightly. Aster's eyes finally adjusted to the lights and looked around, seeing Roy and Mirabella. Aster took her free hand, caressing Mirabella's face gently, happy tears running down Mirabella's face faintly.

"Sunshine…?"

Aster looked to the other side of the bed, seeing Bart standing there. She smiled, running her fingers along his chin line, stopping when Bart held her hand.

"Hey…" She said almost too quietly.

Bart gently ran his fingers, with his free hand, down Aster's cheek. The four just sat there with Aster, a doctor coming in a little while later.

_**May 23:**_

At Base, Nightwing had been training Aster to catch her up on her skills, getting her back on her feet. Hand-to-hand with Nightwing was hard, and no one's ever beaten him.

"Hi-ya!" Solara shouted as she threw Nightwing on the ground, pinning him with his arm in a chicken wing. "Tap out, Nightwing." Solara smiled.

Nightwing struggled to not tap out but was unable to counter Solara's pin, resulting in tapping on the floor. Solara released her grip, standing up.

"Nicely done, Solara. No one's ever been able to do that to me." Nightwing said, Solara helping him to his feet once more.

"Thanks, Nightwing." Then the holographic screen came up, showing the news. "What's that?"

Back in Taos, Virgil, Tye, and Eduardo had left the two girls alone in the living room. Asami had begun to understand English, as well as try to speak English. Asami was lying on the couch, playing a game on her cell phone while Lavender had started reading a book. Then Lavender had an idea, closing her novel and setting it on the table.

"Asami?" Lavender questioned, getting her friend's attention from the cell phone game. "Wanna play a video game?"

Asami sat up, interested.

"What game?" Asami questioned, trying to speak English clearly. There was a little anger laced around her voice, but Lavender didn't seem to notice it.

"I have this dance game. We could play it if you want. It's only two players or more, and my sisters never wanted to play, so I thought I'd ask you."

Asami thought it over. She was kind of jealous of how Tye was looking at Lavender, and not her. She knew him, trained with him, and knew his weaknesses and strengths. After a while, the guys came out, Asami making up her mind.

"I'll play." Asami replied.

"Sweet! Oh, hey guys." Lavender said as she got up to set up the game.

"Hey…What are you two doing?" Virgil questioned.

"Asami and I are playing this dancing game I have. No one ever wants to play it so…I asked Asami."

"Cool." Tye said before pecking a kiss on Lavender's cheek and plopping on the couch.

Asami's anger grew worse than before, jealousy overcoming her. Lavender picked a song, giving Asami a controller.

"So…how do you play this game?" Asami questioned.

"You just follow your character. Actually…I see you as the other character, so switch places." Lavender said as she switched places with Asami. "Okay…so…now we can start."

"What song did you pick?" Ed questioned.

"It's called Oath…It's by Cher Lloyd and Becky G. I love this one. Ready, Asami?"

Asami nodded and was prepared for the dance contest. But as she started listening to the song, her anger decreased to embarrassment. When the song ended, Asami had beat Lavender by two points.

"Wow…No one's ever beat me at this game before. Alright, Asami." Lavender said as she high fived her friend.

Asami excused herself and walked out.

"Huh…Wonder what's got her." Lavender said before her phone rang. "Hello? Oh, hey, Nightwing. What's up?" There was a little bit of silence before Lavender grabbed the remote and turned on the news. "I'm watching, I'm watching. I'm coming. I'm right around the corner from a zeta tube; I can be at Star in five to ten minutes. Black Thorn out."

Lavender hung up her phone and started for the closet.

"Hey, what's going on?" Tye asked, going after her.

"There's a war world heading for the Earth. Stay here, and stay safe, please. I have to go and stop this thing. I'm being debriefed at Star; **Green Beetle's **informing us on everything." Lavender gave Tye a quick kiss. "I promise, I'll be back soon."

Lavender enclosed herself in a leaf bulb and revealed herself again, now wearing her uniform.

"Lavender!" Virgil called before she disappeared.

"What's up, Virgil?"

Virgil hugged her.

"Just be extra careful."

"I will be." Lavender said before releasing. "I _will _be back."

Then Lavender left her four friends in the apartment together, going to stop a giant small moon-sized weapon from destroying the entire planet.

_**May 27:**_

"As long as the Ambassador refuses to allow an attack on the Justice meat guarding the key chamber, the crystal key is useless to us." Black Beetle ranted, putting a crystal in a small holding unit. "And the War World will never truly belong to the Reach. Mongul is to blame. By bringing the War World to Earth, he cost us half our fleet."

"67.3 percent, actually." The Reach head scientist corrected.

Black Beetle didn't like that any better, growling lowly in the process of hearing the corrected news. The two walked into another room, where all but three of the team members were being held in some kind of frozen state, but not inside ice.

"And alerted the human meat to our hidden invasion force." Black Beetle continued.

"The Ambassador has ways of handling the humans. And though we have endured set-backs, the Earth heroes have lost so much more." The head scientist added. Glancing through the heroes caught, the only three missing were Solara, Arsenal, and Anima. Black Thorn had been captured as well, all captured by Blue Beetle. "All considered, things progress quite well…except for three loose ends."

"Those loose ends will soon be cut off." Black Beetle replied.

Running through the ways of the War World, Solara and Arsenal were being chased by guards. Solara was carrying Anima in her arms. With Stardust captured with the others, Anima was passed out, weakened by her unknown-to-herself familiar being trapped in a frozen time. The two were trying to shoot the guards off, but nothing seemed to work. Solara was starting to weaken, not fully ready to be in the field without the team to back her up yet.

"What do we do?" Solara questioned, trying to escape the guards.

"Just keep running!" Arsenal shouted back. Jumping over a small barrier, Arsenal tried to contact the Watch Tower, with no effect. "Code red!" Arsenal whispered into his com-link before throwing a grenade at the guards, smoke flashing around them in a second later. "Come on, Solara."

"Take…Anima…I can't." Solara said, breathing heavily.

Arsenal picked Anima up, carrying her like Solara was.

"Okay, now come on. We have to move."

"You go…I'll catch up." Solara said, still trying to catch her breathe.

Arsenal growled, looking towards the guards, the smoke was starting to clear. Arsenal bent down, grabbing Solara and carrying her on his back, Anima in his arms. He shot a rope up, hooking onto a ledge above and disappeared with the girls as the guards followed.

"No way am I losing you again." Arsenal said before continuing his tries to contact the League. "Arsenal to Watch Tower. Arsenal to anyone, come in!"

_**May 29:**_

New York City, the Reach Ambassador was meeting with the people who he secretly called **meat. **Blue Beetle right behind him.

"_I still can't believe what we did. How is Black Thorn ever gonna forgive me…forgive __**us**__?_" Jaime thought.

"_The Black Thorn is no longer a problem. She is…gone. She, like the other humans, will be deleted or turned into a slave of the Reach._" The scarab thought back.

"_I thought we were being double agents for the team, scarab. What are you talking about?"_

"_Jaime Reyes…We are of the Reach. We shall be the greatest warrior for the Reach. The human meat will become slaves of the Reach or die. Either way, the Earth is doomed."_

_ "How can you say that?"_

The scarab chose to ignore Jaime's voice, listening to the Ambassador talk to the news media and the citizens around.

"And in addition to our joint scientific advancements, the Earth has also gained a new hero. One part human individual, one part Reach technology. Blue Beetle is the living embodiment of the peaceful union between our peoples. Plus, he saved us all from the War World. Not too shabby." The Ambassador announced.

The crowd cheered for Blue Beetle, in thoughts of influence that Blue Beetle really did save the Earth all by himself. Which, of course, was a lie considering the entire team helped him stop the giant weapon from destroying the Earth.

"And this is only the beginning. Just imagine what the future holds, when together we _reach _for tomorrow." The Ambassador added before a young girl walked up to him, holding a Wonder Woman doll tightly in her hands. "Greetings, young one. Do you have a question?"

"I—Uh—I thought the Justice League protected the Earth. Why didn't they stop the War World?" The little girl questioned.

The Ambassador sighed heavily, pretending to be disappointed in the League, an act for the people.

"I wonder about that too. Just as I wonder why they seem to attract so many outer space bullies to your planet. Maybe the War World was a bully too big for the Justice League to handle. Good thing your new friends, the Reach, were here to protect you." Blue Beetle walked over, picking the girl up on his shoulder, as she dropped her doll. Picking her up just like Jaime had done thousands of times with his sister back home.

"The threat, that was the War World, is now a new hope for mankind, a weapon to defend your planet. We, the Reach, will safe-guard this weapon without boarding it until such time as humanity is ready to assume control. The War World is our gift to you." The Ambassador finished.

Later that night in Taos, New Mexico, the four teens were out. They were practicing their powers against anything that had to with the Reach. Tye ending their training by smashing a water tower with a picture of Blue Beetle across it on the ground. The other three regrouped with him.

"Oh-ho, nice one, Tye. You are seriously getting a handle on your power."

"Thanks, Virgil, but I'd rather get a handle on the scarab that turned my man Jaime into the Reach's little Blue puppet."

Virgil was going to say something, but then Eduardo's phone started ringing. Answering it with a video call, Lex Luthor appeared on the screen.

"I wonder if the Reach can appreciate the irony of their own creations working against them." Lex said without as so much as a hello to the teens.

"Hey! They did **not **create us. They kidnapped us…"

"…and experimented on us against our will." Tye finished for Eduardo.

"And with that in mind, if you truly want to hit the Reach where it hurts, I believe I can show you the way. Where's Lavender?"

"She went to stop the War World days ago. She hasn't come back yet. You don't think she's…" Virgil trailed off.

"I don't believe so." Lex replied shortly after.

Back on the War World, Solara was resting, Anima in her lap. Arsenal was trying to hack into a computer of some kind, failing in the process and smashing it to only make things worse for them.

"Come on, come on, you dumb machine. Just give me a line to the team, to the Watch Tower, to the warehouse, anywhere." Arsenal struggled at the controls, only in efforts of scaring his biological sister a little.

"Arsenal, you're scaring me. Calm down." Solara said, almost sounding like Anima.

"We're stuck on here with no way of communicating with the League or the team. How am I supposed to calm down?"

"By trying not to be so…hatsful and a little more content would be nice." Solara sighed. "It's happening all over again."

"What's happening all over again?" Arsenal questioned, continuing with the controls.

"The reason I ran away in the first place. Arguing with you being a hot head and being hatsful. I'm scared Roy and all you're doing is making it worse."

Before Arsenal could say anything else, two guards walked through a door.

"Great, and me basically out of ammo." Arsenal said before the guards saw him. Arsenal rushed behind the machine, hiding next to the girls. The machine got hit a couple of times, beeping loudly and making Arsenal grin. "Ha! That's what you get." Then the machine beeped again, lowering into the floor. "Aw…now you're just being petty."

"Note to self, don't taunt machines, they can get back at you." Solara said.

"Is this really the time for jokes, Solara?" Arsenal questioned.

"You started it!"

Just as the machine was low enough, Arsenal used the last of his power left in his arm to blast the guards unconscious, at least one anyway. Arsenal rushed over to the guard as he was grabbing one the laser shooters, dodging several attempts to shoot him and kicked the guard unconscious.

"You'll never pod me again! Never!" Arsenal shouted.

Solara watched him, scared of her brother now more than ever. Grabbing the laser shooters, Arsenal grabbed Solara's wrist and pulled her. Solara was able to grab Anima into her arms in the sudden movement. She was scared and didn't know what else to do but follow him.

Back in Taos, the four teens were sitting in front of a laptop, chatting with Lex Luthor about a strange box next to the laptop.

"It's called Father Box. It can open a boom tube, or gateway, to the War World and back again. It has also been programmed to locate Kryptonian DNA." Luthor explained.

"Kryptonian? You mean you're sending us after **Superman**?" Virgil questioned.

"Super_boy_, actually. One of ten young heroes captured by the Reach."

"Those guys saved _us _from the Reach."

"Exactly. Care to return the favor? And in the process, strike a critical blow against the Reach?"

"Dude, you're asking us to go inside the War World and super heroes. If they got caught, what chance do we have?" Tye questioned.

"I guess you don't want your friend back after all."

"What are you talking about?" Virgil questioned.

"Lavender, or…Black Thorn I believe they called her. She was one of the ten captured teens I showed you."

"Wait, what? Black Thorn's captured too?" Tye questioned.

Asami, hearing the sudden worry in Tye's voice, shook her and angered her. She wanted to tell him off, but couldn't bring herself to do it. The four thought it over, thinking of their chances and of their trusted friend, Lavender.


	29. A Dimmed Light and A Wilting Flower

Chapter Twenty-Nine

**Thorn's POV:**

We stopped the War World, we ruled, we were so psyched about our victory. But _never_…could we predict this to happen.

"Well, the gang's all here." Blue said, me forgetting about the Reach controlling him.

Then it happened…He knocked out Impulse with the crystal key then he attacked us. Sonically, he attacked us, only hitting a few. Guardian, Beast Boy and Batgirl were all down.

"Garfield!" I could hear Anima scream.

I turned to her direction, her kneeling next to his body. When she looked at me, tear filled eyes, she gasped. Turning around, my face was met with something hard.

**Solara's POV:**

"Blue! What are you doing?!" I shouted.

"I am of the Reach, and there is no need for you anymore." He replied.

Blue attempted to sonically attack me, but failed as someone pushed me out of the way. Looking as I sat up, it was Arsenal.

"Thank…you." I said as I pulled some of my hair behind my ear.

"I'm not letting them get you." Arsenal told me.

**Anima's POV:**

"Garfield…Garfield, please wake up." I begged.

There was no affect. I looked around; Blue was _taking care _of Wonder Girl and Super Boy. I stood up, and not wanting to, I made a bee line for Blue. I was transforming into a Harpy, I went to strike Blue. Only scratching his armor, I saw another Harpy striking him at the same time. The other Harpy had grey feathers and golden eyes, the realization dawned on me. It dawned on me just like as Blue grabbed my arms and threw me into the wall. As I blacked out, the other Harpy fell, transforming into my Stardust. I pieced it together as someone picked me up and held me tight as I blacked out.

**Solara's POV:**

I held Anima close, scared for her and myself.

"Arsenal, no!"

Bee was shouting at my brother; attempt to stop him from hitting the air lock button. Opening the air lock, he was shouting something back.

"I'll never let them pod me again!"

I understood why he acted irritable but I thought he had become less hateful since we first found out we both were captured and experimented on. I guess I was wrong. Hitting the air lock, my brother was going to kill us all. As I grabbed a pipe, I let go, unable to hold on to it. Just as I was going to slip into space, someone grabbed my hand. Looking, it was Arsenal, saving me once again.

"Hold on!" He shouted.

Then all of a sudden, the air lock closed. I fell to the ground, hardly breathing as I reached for Anima's hand. Arsenal stuck an oxygen tube in my mouth, allowing me to breathe easier. Helping me stand, I scooped Anima into my arms.

I turned to Arsenal as he grabbed my shoulder, giving me a_we have to go now_ look. I nodded and we escaped. We escaped, leaving the entire team behind and alone. I left Thorn…Impulse…**everyone **behind, in fear of never seeing them again. I promised…How could I just give up on them like that? How will they ever forgive me?

_**May 29 (regular POV):**_

"I'm in." Virgil said, breaking the thinking silence. "There's no way the Reach expects us. And with the element of surprise and our powers, we're the only ones who may actually stand a chance." The other three continued to stare at him, uneasy on the matter. "Plus, we owe it to them…and Lavender. She's the only one who truly understands us, the one we've trusted to stay here with us. Tye, are you really gonna let the Reach hold your girlfriend captive?"

Tye sighed heavily, thinking about Lavender.

"Alright…I'm in too." Tye agreed, Eduardo agreeing in follow.

Asami remained silent, she didn't like Lavender. Then she noticed the boys staring at her. She sighed heavily before picking up the Father Box.

"How does…work…please?" Asami questioned.

After Luthor explained to Asami how to use the Father Box, Asami opened the boom tube to the War World, the four falling through and landing in the middle of a bunch of guards.

"Hello…" Asami said to them.

"Oh, we give up. We give up! Please don't hurt us! It was stupid to come here! Stupid, stupid, stupid! I knew this wouldn't work! We are so sorry!" Virgil fibbed.

"He's right. We don't want any trouble. We just wanna go home."

Then a guard picked Virgil up by the collar of his shirt, Virgil smirking.

"Fooled ya."

As the three started knocking out the guards, Tye used his astral form. "Now you've gone and woke up the big guy."

The guards shooting at Tye didn't seem to affect him all too much. When more guards showed up, the four disappeared down the wide, long hallways that continued around the War World.

**Solara's POV:**

I was sitting against a wall, Anima across my lap as we were resting and waiting for Arsenal to charge. I wasn't going to be much help, I was weak and tired. We've been running from Reach guards for days now and I haven't slept a bit, just moved. We had to, in fear of the Reach guards finally catching us and putting us in pods once more in our lives.

"Raw power. Now we're talking the same language." Arsenal said, fully charged now.

Then our attention was turned to the sound of shooting…but not at us, someone else was here, someone else was free to roam around the War World. Running to see, it wasn't who I had hoped for. It wasn't Impulse or any of the team. It was the Star kids; Tye, Virgil, Asami, and Eduardo. They were following a box of some kind while we followed them in secret. Why were they here? How did they get here? Finally, the four got to a room, Tye opening it. Inside was the team, frozen in pods. They were…just frozen, still as time passed them on the War World, probably even unaware of what was truly going on around them.

Then…Black Beetle showed in the room, threatening them and fighting them. He took down Tye in about three seconds flat, the others scattering across the room, only for Black Beetle to get Virgil and Asami. Watching from above, Arsenal shot a laser, just missing Eduardo, and disabling Black Beetle's rocket pack. We swung down, closing the room off from the mass of guards that running to help. A second later, Eduardo had teleported next to us.

"Eduardo!" I shouted, hugging him quickly.

"Solara?! What are you doing here?"

"Questions later." Arsenal interrupted.

"Who's this?" Eduardo questioned.

"The guy who will save your butts if you listen closely." Arsenal replied before telling Ed and I to just keep hitting Black Beetle from afar with my powers and the laser that he gave Eduardo.

I set Anima next to the door we closed a moment ago, hoping she would be safe there. While Eduardo and I were fighting, the other three woke up again and joined in with us. Then Arsenal had freed Mongul from his pod. Mongul, the guy we took down a few days before. As Mongul was coming for me, Black Beetle got his attention quickly and the two fought against each other.

"Solara! Come on!"

I looked up, seeing the others freeing the team. I gasped, I could feel tears filling in my eyes as I saw Impulse and Thorn stand up, slightly weakened. I flew up, shakily, and landed in front of Impulse. My words stuck in my throat as I tried to talk, I gave up easily and pulled him closely, tears falling down my cheeks.

"I was so worried…I'm so sorry…" I whispered.

"It's okay now, Solara." I let go. "We need to go though…Ugh…"

I caught him, swinging one of his arms over my shoulders.

"I've got you." I said before we climbed down.

"Solara! Thorn!" I heard a small voice call.

"Oh, Anima!" I said, dropping to my knees and hugging her close, Thorn coming over as well. "I…I'm so happy you two are okay."

"You can hug it out later, Solara. We **have **to go!" Nightwing said, getting the others to the Bioship.

Nightwing was closing the door to the status room once more, only for Anima to turn back around.

"Oh, no! Stardust!" Anima shouted as she ran back into the room.

She scooped Stardust into her arms, running back to the door. She threw Stardust underneath the closing door, only to slid o her knees, back nearly to the floor as she _just _made it under the door.

"Anima, are you alright?" Nightwing questioned.

"Just fine, Nightwing. We almost forgot my familiar though."

"Your…familiar?" Impulse questioned.

"Yeah. We almost forgot Stardust." Anima replied as she bent down and scooped up the pup, cuddling her face close to Stardust's fur.

"Come on. Let's get to the Bioship." I said, leading the others to the escape of the War World.

Getting to the Bioship, Anima helped Impulse walk on. I stayed outside with Bee, Arsenal, Thorn, Nightwing, and the four teens who saved us.

"Alright, you guys!" Thorn cheered as she high-fived Virgil.

"Thanks, Lav." Virgil said.

"I think congratulations are in order. No training, no guidance, and still you pulled it off. After we get back, after a debrief, there might be a spot for all of you on the team." Nightwing said.

Thorn was excited, she hugged Tye closely.

"That means you can always be close to me." I heard Thorn tell Tye, before quickly kissing him on the cheek.

I couldn't believe it…Lavender had moved on to Tye to love? She couldn't have given up on saving Blue Beetle just yet. We haven't even tried to save him yet, and she's given up? How could she?

"Before we head back, we need to talk about Blue Beetle. He betrayed us." Arsenal said.

"Look who's talking!" Bee shouted, getting everyone's attention, including mine. "Last thing I remember is you blowing an airlock without warning! Nearly got us all killed and absolutely got us captured."

"Hey! After eight years on ice, there was no way I was getting grabbed again. And in case you didn't notice, my escape resulted in you standing here free to complain, so how about a thank you."

"Roy!" I hissed at my brother.

"It's true! If it wasn't for us escaping…"

"You're right, Arsenal, thank you." Nightwing started, I knew something else was coming.

"Nightwing, wait! Before you say anything else…" I interrupted, walking over to Roy. I punched him in the arm. "That was for making me leave Thorn behind in the hands of Blue Beetle." I sighed, a little pressure relieved from my shoulders. "Alright, I'm ready."

"As I was saying…Thank you. And after we get back to Earth, Arsenal, you're off the team."

"Wait, what?" Tye questioned.

"This isn't the first time he's pulled this kind of stunt. Intentionally endangering the lives of team mates in order to farther out his own agenda or guard against his personal demons. It's unacceptable. So until you prove yourself a team player, you have no place on this team."

"He's right, you guys." Thorn said, still standing next to Tye.

"If it wasn't for him, none of you would be freed right now and the four of us probably would be dead!" Tye argued.

"I realize that, Tye, but Arsenal's just too dangerous."

Tye moved away from Thorn, almost disappointed in what he heard from her.

"I thought you understood us."

"I do, Tye." Thorn argued.

"No…No, you don't. If you did, you'd talk him into letting Arsenal stay on the team."

"Tye, listen…"

"No…We're through, Thorn…or Lavender…or whatever your name is right now. I don't **ever **want to see you again."

Thorn stepped back a few, broken by the words Tye told her. I ran over, standing in front of her.

"Leave her alone, Tye!" I shouted at him.

"Whatever…Hey, Arsenal, wanna ride with us?" Tye questioned my brother.

"Sounds like fun." He replied, walking over.

"Solara…you could…come with us too, if you want." Virgil offered.

I looked back at the Bioship, Impulse and Anima were waiting for me. Then I looked down at Thorn, she was broken and fallen to her knees in sadness. I finally turned back to the other teens.

"No…My place is here…I'm sorry, Virgil. I can't go with you."

Then Asami pulled out a small box.

"Home, please." She said.

And before I could pull Arsenal back, he was gone with the other four. He was gone…for now.

**Regular POV:**

Solara walked up the Bioship, Thorn in follow. Thorn walked right past Anima and Impulse. I hugged Anima close.

"Oh…are you alright?" Solara asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Anima replied before walking inside.

Solara rested a hand on Impulse's shoulder, sliding it down to his hand.

"Everything alright?" Solara questioned, getting closer.

"Yeah…" He wrapped his arms around her waist, Solara's hands around his neck. "I glad you're staying."

"Oh…that reminds me." Solara turned, Nightwing standing there now. "Um…What's my punishment, Nightwing?"

"You're getting off with a warning."

"Warning? Really?"

"You've proven to be a team player. I'm sorry about your brother, Aster."

"It's okay, Nightwing. I wasn't really getting along with him too much anyways. I was just worried I was going to be kicked off the team too."

"It wasn't your fault, Aster." Nightwing smiled. "I'm just glad you and everyone else are safe again."

"I am too…What about Blue?"

"We'll talk about that when we're not behind enemy lines."

"Right." Solara agreed before turning around to Impulse, smiling with her eyes closed. "I'm happy I get to stay."

"Glad to hear it. Come on." Nightwing said as he lead Solara, Impulse and Bee inside the Bioship to leave.

Walking on the Bioship, Solara walked over to Thorn, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you…going to be okay?" Solara questioned.

Thorn sighed heavily.

"Yeah, I'll be okay."

"I can talk to the Garrick's, see if you can share a room with me…if you want to."

She looked up at Solara, thought-filled.

"Yeah…I'd like that. Thanks, Aster."

Solara smiled at Thorn before going over to Impulse, whose feet were on an extra chair. She leaned on the back of it, smiling.

"Is this seat taken?" She joked.

Impulse looked up, a smile crawling across his face.

"I was saving it for you, Sunshine." He replied as he swung his feet to the ground.

Solara sat on the chair, her smile fading as she looked over at Thorn.

"Everything okay, Sunshine?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking about Thorn. She feeling really moded and…I told her I'd talk to the Garrick's. Even if it's for a couple of days, I think she should stay with us. She can have my room and I can…sleep in yours."

Impulse was surprised, and then it faded into a smile.

"You'd like that, huh?"

"Yeah…" Solara leaned in closer to Impulse. "I would like that very much."

They kissed quickly before Solara pulled away, looking over at Thorn who turned around quickly.

"The poor girl can't catch a break."

"Who?" Impulse wondered.

"Lavender…She can't catch a break. First, Jaime turns evil, and then Tye, Jaime's best friend, just broke up with her…Then we just kissed in front of her. What am I going to do?"

"Yeah…It's hard, huh?"

Then Solara popped up, realization dreading over her.

"Oh, Impulse, I'm sorry."

"What do you mean?"

Solara placed a hand on Impulse's knee.

"I…Uh…I heard…" Solara took a deep breath before continuing. "When I was…_asleep_…I could hear voices, but they were…muffled and distorted. Then I heard yours. Your voice was crisp and clear and I hear every word you said. About…your family, the loneliness you endured. How you know you'd be stuck here, in this time. The woman who gave you blue prints for your time machine."

"You really…did hear me."

"Yes…and…I think I can help found her…if you want to."

Impulse rested a hand on Solara's that was resting on his knee.

"Later…right now, I want to get Blue off mode so that _my _future doesn't happen."

"Wait…I just thought of something. If your future doesn't happen, won't that mean…you'd disappear and none of this happens?"

"I…don't know. I never thought of that."

"I don't want to lose you."

"Don't worry. We'll figure something out." Impulse said, kissing Solara again. They pulled away gently. "I promise we'll figure something out. I won't leave you."

"And I won't leave you…never again."

The two smiled, Solara resting her head on Impulse's shoulder. After a little while, the two fell asleep for the rest of the ride home. Thorn and Nightwing were the only two awake still, except M'Gann who was at controls. Nightwing walked over to Thorn, who was sitting back in her seat.

"Hey…how you doing?"

"I'll be okay." Thorn said before digging in her pocket. "I grew this flower for Zatanna to use. I hope it'll help with the reversing spell she's working on. I read about a dark blue rose that the Egyptians used thousands of years ago. I thought…maybe…it might be part of the spell Batgirl and Bumble Bee found. I hope it helps."

Nightwing gently took the flower, still freshly picked, or it looked like. Then he looked back down at Thorn.

"Thank you, Black Thorn. It will help." Then he bent down, resting a hand on her shoulder. "If you want to talk…I'll be around. I heard Solara offer you to stay with the Garrick's with her and Impulse."

"Yeah…Solara's always telling me how nice they are and I think I need a little space is all. So staying with the Garrick's will be okay."

"Is it going to bother you if Aster and Bart are…a thing…around the house? I mean, you can still stay with me and Robin at the mansion. Alfred really liked having you around the place."

Thorn looked down, thinking and remembering her time at the Bat's mansion. Then she smiled softly and looked back at Nightwing.

"I'd like that. I'll talk to Solara when we get to base about it. I'm sure she won't mind…and Barbara's going to be there too, right?"

"Yeah…I'll talk to her about it. I'm sure she'd stay for you."

"Thanks, Nightwing. I really appreciate everything you've done for me. And…I wanted to tell you…I'm _**really **_sorry about all the secrets I kept from the team and all the lies I told you and everyone."

"It's alright, Lavender. You had a right to do all of that. You were scared. I don't blame you."

"And…I think I know where my father is…and who he is."

"Who is he?"

"While I was staying with the Star kids…Lex Luthor mentioned my father being part of the Light. What if…What if I gave you a sketch drawing or even the details of what he looked like and we can see which one of the Light it is?"

"Sounds like a plan…but when you get some rest, alright? Now, get some sleep. You've been through a lot in the past couple of days."

Thorn yawned and rested her head on her folded arms.

"Alright…Only if you get some rest too."

"I will." Nightwing assured, yet lying. "Now…go to sleep. I'll wake you when we get back to base."

Then Thorn drifted to sleep and Nightwing returned to his seat for the ride home.


	30. Scars

Chapter Thirty

_**May 30:**_

Arriving at the base, everyone had seemed to be sucked of all hope except for Anima and Impulse.

"Look, I know this missing key is important, but we **need **to focus on…"

"…Blue Beetle!" Cat Grant interrupted as the news appeared on a holographic screen. "The so-called Reach hero has dominated this news cycle with General Tseng's announcement to present Blue Beetle with the international medal of valor…"

The TV paused. Turning around, Robin had paused the news cast.

"That's a load of good press for a traitor." Robin said.

"Hey! Don't blame Blue! He's as much a captive of the Reach as we were. We **have **to set him free…you know, before he conquers Earth and enslaves all man-kind." Impulse argued.

Anima interrupted them from going into a fist fight by stepping between them.

"Quit it! None of this is going to help save my brother!" Anima shouted at the two boys.

"Anima…" Thorn sighed, removing her mask. "Mirabella, I don't think there _is _a way to help him."

"Don't say that! What about everything we've worked for?! Our promise to him?!"

Thorn stood straight, anger and sadness overcoming her actions that follow.

"It doesn't matter anymore! None of it matters!" Thorn shouted at her little sister, scaring her a little. "Look, Blue's gone! There's nothing we can do now!"

"Yes, there is! And I'm gonna stop him _and_ the Reach if it's the last thing I ever do." Impulse said, getting Solara's attention.

"But…Impulse…" Solara added.

"No, Solara…I'm sorry, but I **have **to stop him."

Solara, shocked, gulped the urge to cry and run, and just hugged him.

"Then I will too. Whatever happens…I will be there with you." Solara said before pulling away and walking away, tears falling down her face as she walked outside.

Later that night, Bart and Aster walked into the household of the Garrick's. Aster just stood there next to the closed front door, Bart stopping before turning the corner.

"Look, Aster…about what I said at the base…I just…" He was interrupted, Aster pulling him close into a deep kiss.

After a long moment, Aster pushed away, her fingers still curled into Bart's messy hair.

"I…**don't**…_**care**_ what you said, Bart. I know you didn't mean everything. I've heard you. You wouldn't leave me behind…I know that." Then Aster pushed herself away from Bart, walking around him and up the stairs. "Good night."

"Um…Good night?" Bart questioned in his head what just happened.

Then running his hands through his hair, he sat on the couch in the living room. Slamming his hands on the couch, Bart stared up at the ceiling. Then he looked next to the piano, a guitar sitting against the old instrument. Bart stood up, walking over and grabbed the guitar before sitting back on the couch. He rested the stringed instrument across his legs, and took a deep breath before he started strumming the guitar as gently as he shut his eyes. After a moment, Aster was standing at the opposite end of the couch, Bart facing away as he continued to play. When he stopped, he placed the guitar against the couch next to him.

"That was beautiful. I didn't know you could play guitar." Aster said, spooking him a little.

"Oh, Aster…Whoa, I didn't hear you come in the room. I thought you went upstairs."

"Sorry…I stopped half way up the stairs when I heard the guitar. I came back down, seeing you play it." Aster explained, sitting next to Bart on the couch.

"Uh…yeah…Jay taught me…while you were in a coma."

"Cool…Can I hear?"

"Huh? Uh…I only know two songs really."

"Well, I heard one. What about the other?"

"It's kind of stupid." Bart replied, chuckling a little.

"Bart…it's amazing how fast you picked up how to play guitar. I wanna hear the other song…please?" Aster questioned as she ran her fingertips down the side of Bart's freckled face.

A chill ran down his back, but Bart liked it. He always like the soft strokes Aster ran down his face, arms, back. It made him feel alive, let him know someone kind was there. It let him know someone who knew him and his past was still there, understood what he went through.

"Well…uh…don't laugh at me, okay?" Bart smiled as he moved with her fingers before they fell.

"Never…" Aster smiled back, pleased he was still there.

Bart picked up the guitar again, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes before strumming the guitar. After a while, Bart put the guitar next to him again.

"What'd you think?" Bart questioned.

"Oh, that was amazing. I've never heard anyone play the guitar like that before!"

"Really? You liked it?"

"Liked it? I loved it. You are amazing."

"Thanks…Well…um…I wrote the song…for you."

"For me?"

"Yeah…It's probably really stupid now that you've heard it though."

Aster quickly hugged him.

"It could never be stupid. That's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me." Aster said before pulling Bart into another deep kiss.

An hour later, Aster and Bart had decided to turn to their rooms for sleep. Aster was comfortably snuggled into her warm blankets. Warmth…and comfort at last. After days of running around with her limp sister in her arms and her crazed brother, Aster was pleased to finally to be sleeping in a bed and to be covered with a layer of warmth. Yet, as the night progressed, Aster had to keep believing she was hearing things around the house. But it wasn't until a loud thump from across the hall made her sit up. It was followed by a shatter of a glass object, which made Aster race to the door. Throwing open the door only to see Bart twisting and turning on the floor, his arm bloody from the broken lamp across the floor. Aster ran into Bart's room, kneeling on the floor next to him and gripping his wrists gently.

"Bart…Bart, wake up…It's me, Aster…Listen to me, to my voice…please."

It was no use, he wasn't waking. Aster sat on his legs, to keep him from kicking her, and before she was going to grip his shoulders to shake him, she saw something strange. Carefully moving the collar of Bart's white shirt a little, Aster found a scar that ran down the front of his shoulder. She gently rested Bart's twisting hands under her knees before she curled his shirt up, a series of short scars revealing themselves along his chest and shoulders. Aster shook her head violently, trying to shake her fear and imagination away before leaning forward on his still shaking body, kissing him on the lips. After a moment, his body seemed to stop and she was going to sit up, but was pulled into the kiss once more. As she pulled away gently, her breathe had become heavier. Her eyes started to tear as she was still close to his now awake piercing green eyes and soft lips. After realization became of her, Aster threw herself back, landing back on her hands behind her. Bart sat up, holding his head in slight pain.

"Uh…S—Sorry…You were having a nightmare and you…you…Oh, Bart! Your arm!"

Bart, still dazed a little, looked from Aster to his blood streamed arm.

"I'll be okay." He replied.

"What do you mean you'll be okay? Your arm is hurt."

"Aster…" She wasn't listening. Instead, she ran to the bathroom and returned with a damp cloth, kneeling next to him. Before Aster had the cloth make contact with his skin, Bart grabbed her wrist. "Aster…I'm okay."

"But Bart-"

"Aster…Aster, look…" Bart said gently as he wiped some of the blood away with his other hand, the cuts had practically disappeared.

"H—How…?"

"I'm a speedster…"

"Which means you heal quicker too. Huh, never thought of that. Sorry, I panicked."

"It's okay. Are you alright?"

"Yeah…Uh…But what about your…" Aster was scared of what the answer was, why he had scars if he healed quickly.

"About my what?" Bart questioned, snapping Aster from her wondering thoughts.

"Huh? Oh…uh…your lamp? It's broken."

Bart smiled, standing up with Aster.

"I guess I should put my next one on my dresser, huh?" They both giggled at the small joke. "I should get a broom and clean this up."

Bart left to get a broom and returned a moment later. Aster stayed to help clean up the glass, trying to gain enough courage to ask about the scars, but didn't. As they finished, they were awkwardly quiet.

"Well…I guess I should get back to bed." Aster broke as she started to walk out.

Before she was able to make it to the door way, Bart had quickly moved in front of her, kissing her. After a quick moment, Aster's hands crawled into Bart's sweaty hair, Bart's hands in her hair at the same time.

_**May 31 (eight-thirty A.M.):**_

Joan and Jay had woken up an hour and a half ago, and were starting to wonder where Aster and Bart were, thinking the two would have been up by then.

"Maybe they're still sleeping from their last mission." Jay suggested.

"Well, I'm going to go check in on them anyways." Joan said, starting for the stairs.

Both going up the stairs, Jay was whispering to let them sleep and Joan was shushing him before she slowly opened the door to Aster's room. Opening it the rest of the way, Aster wasn't there. They shrugged and walked across the hallway, gently opening the door to Bart's room. There on the bed were the two teens. Bart was on his back, Aster lying on his chest. His arms wrapped around her as much as hers were around him. Joan and Jay smiled at each other and quietly closed the door behind them as they left. After the door clicked shut, Aster's purple eyes slowly opened. She looked up at Bart, who was stirring awake, looking back down at her.

"Morning…" He smiled.

"Good morning…" Aster groaned as she stretched her arms above her. "How'd you sleep?"

"Better…Thanks…" Bart replied before crawling out of bed, Aster sitting up.

He stood up, walking over to his dresser and pulled his white shirt off. Aster watched with her knees to her chest. She knew there were scars on the front, even though his back was clear of flaws. She stood up, walking over to Bart as he pulled out a shirt.

"Bart…" He started pulling the shirt over his head, but she gripped his wrists carefully. "Bart, I saw them. Turn around."

Bart sighed heavily, dropping the shirt in his arms. He turned around, Aster now seeing the scars more clearly than last night. She ran her finger tips across a few, examining the details of the places they were set in. Bart gently held her hand, causing her to look at him.

"Where…Where did you get these? I thought you healed quickly." Aster questioned.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"You know I would understand." Aster said, gripping Bart's shoulder before he turned away. "Why won't tell me?"

"Aster…it's not something I like to talk about, okay?" Bart said, lightly pushing Aster's hand away.

"Bart, I-"

"Just leave the subject alone already! Man, why can't you ever just let it go?" Bart shouted. It wasn't until he saw the tears in Aster's purple eyes that he realized what he just did. "A—Aster, I'm sorry…I didn't…"

"No…" She started backing away, holding back her tears as best she could, which wasn't very good since rivers ran down her face. "No, you've…changed Impulse."

Bart went to hold her, but she just pushed him away and ran out of the room. She locked the door behind her before Bart could even get there. Forgetting he could just vibrate through, Bart banged on the door.

"Aster!" He called.

"_Go away_!" She screamed from the other side of the door.

"Aster, I wanna talk! Please? Open the door, Aster!" There was no response this time. Then Bart pressed his ear to the wooden door, hearing a sliding noise, like the window opening. Bart panicked and ran through the door, seeing Aster climbing out. "Aster, wait."

"Get away from me!" Aster shouted before throwing a light orb at Bart.

After dodging the burning orb, Bart looked back at the window, Aster had disappeared from sight.

"Great…Just great! Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Bart mentally kicked himself for yelling at Aster as he walked back to his room.

_**Star City (09:00 AM)**_

Aster had left the alleyway where she zeta into. She had ran, just ran and pressed random buttons, ending up in Star City unknowingly. She looked around the street before hiding back in the alley, sliding down the wall with hopes her breathe would slow itself. It was no use. Aster dug in her pocket, pulling out her inhaler and puffing it in her mouth, her breathing slowing enough. She hung her head back against the brick wall behind her.

"Well, someone doesn't look too good."

Aster jumped to her feet, her hands open with light orbs. They disappeared after seeing who it was.

"Green Arrow?" She questioned.

"Solara, right? What are you doing in Star City?"

"Star City? Uh…I…I don't know exactly."

"You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost or something."

"I just…uh…I…" She ran and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm scared!"

Green Arrow hugged her back briefly before gently pushing her off, still holding her shoulders.

"Follow me. Black Canary's waiting back at my place. We can talk there."

"O—Okay…Thank you."

When they arrived, Green Arrow let Aster climb in the window first. Aster looked around before she was tackled to the ground.

"Dinah, stop!" Green Arrow shouted, removing his hood.

She stopped struggling and stood up, realizing it was Aster.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Aster."

"It…It's okay." Aster groaned slightly as she stood up.

"What's wrong?" Dinah questioned.

"I think I hurt my arm." Aster replied.

Peeling her hand away, her arm looked just like Bart's did the night before.

"I'll get the first aid kit." Oliver said, looking at her arm.

Dinah lead Aster to the couch, Aster shaking with slight fear.

"Aster…it's okay…"

"Dinah, she was already scared when I found her." Oliver kneeled in front of Aster, examining the wound. "Huh? I don't think you hit it here. It looks like it's been bleeding for a few hours. What did you say happened?"

"I didn't." Aster took a deep breath. "I don't know where it came from."

"What happened that made you so scared?" Oliver asked as he wrapped her arm.

"Bart and I had an argument this morning."

"Oh…I heard about you and him being together. It sounded like you two were really there. What happened?" Dinah questioned.

"Well…he had…scars along his chest and shoulders. I asked what they were from and usually he would just tell me, but he wouldn't talk to me. It's like…the only time he'll talk to me is if I'm in a coma."

The three fell quiet as Oliver left to return the first aid kit and change his clothes. As Aster sat on the couch with Dinah, she noticed the piano in the next room. Almost as if calling her, Aster stood up and walked over to the large instrument, her fingers only lingering the keys just below.

"Do you play?" Dinah questioned, resting her hand on Aster's shoulder.

"Oh…yes, ma'am."

"You don't have to call me ma'am, Aster. I prefer Dinah when we're off the job."

Oliver, walking in with regular clothing on, overheard the conversation.

"You can call me Oliver when we're not on the job."

"Oh…okay. Thank you."

They fell silent once more, Aster sitting on the bench with Dinah and Oliver in a wooden chair next to them.

"So…the piano, do you play?" Oliver questioned.

"Um…I usually make up songs, but Imp—Bart, I mean, says I'm pretty good." Aster pulled out a cloth covered book from her bag, opening it to a page. "I've filled this book with songs."

"Can I take a look?" Dinah questioned.

"Um…Sure…Just be careful…please."

"Of course." Dinah said as she gently took the small book from Aster. She looked at the different songs, being amazed at the lyrics. "Aster, these are amazing. Would you play one for me…please?"

"Of course, Dinah." Aster said. As she started, her song was played without any flaw as usual, but then she pressed the wrong key. "Oh, that was wrong. I'll start over." She tried again, the music coming out mistake after mistake. Aster stood up once more, backing away in fear from the piano. She looked at her hands, shaking in confusion and fear. "What's happening to me?"

Aster fell to her knees, crying into her hands. The two adults rushed over, trying to comfort her. Dinah hugged her close as Oliver rested a hand on Aster's shoulder.

"Maybe you're still shook up after your argument with Bart. Why don't you take a nap on the couch and try later?" Dinah questioned.

Aster looked up at her, tear soaked face. Aster nodded, standing up with them. Dinah lead her to the couch once more, Oliver grabbing a pillow and blanket for her. Aster laid on the couch, snuggling into the blanket and silently falling asleep.

"Thank you…" She whispered before fully drifting into sleep.

_**Bludhaven (0930 A.M.):**_

Mirabella ran into the art studio, searching the entire warehouse to try and hide. Finding a small place behind a canvas, Mirabella changed into a Maneki Neko (Japanese good luck bobtail tricolored cat, usually have them in windows) and hid squeezed behind it. A moment later, Garfield ran with a smile across his face.

"Oh no…Where could have Mirabella disappeared too." Mirabella silently giggled, still hiding. "I wonder where she could have gone. She's not behind the paints, or the easels…" Slowly Garfield crept over to the canvas Mirabella had been hiding behind and moved it away. "Found…you? Mirabella?"

Mirabella had slipped from the canvas, now flying above Garfield on a light fixture as a harpy with Stardust as a harpy as well. The two silently giggled down at Garfield until someone tapped Mirabella's shoulder, scaring her backwards off the fixture. Just before hitting the ground, Mirabella spread her wings and flew up again, landing safely on the ground and changing back into her normal self.

Garfield and Stardust came down before changing back to normal and before Garfield ran over, "Mirabella, are you alright? I am so sorry. I thought it was funny. I didn't think you'd-"

"Garfield…Garfield…_Garfield_…" Mirabella said, but then started in his head. "_I'm alright._"

Garfield pushed away, holding his head.

"I thought we promised you wouldn't do that to me."

"I—I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. You were panicking…Garfield, I'm so sorry."

Garfield sighed, smiling softly. He hugged Mirabella close.

"It's okay, Mirabee…I can't be mad at you."

Mirabella hugged him closer, burying her face into his shoulder. After a moment, Mirabella screamed slightly, gripping Garfield for support.

"Mirabella?" He let go a little, only to catch Mirabella as she landed on her knees. "Mirabella, what's wrong?"

"It hurts! Ah!" Mirabella shouted before curling into a ball on the floor and trying to scream. Stardust had fallen to the floor as well, twisting and turning in pain. "My…powers…Garfield. Something's wrong…They hurt…"

"I—I—I…I'm gonna get help. I promise, Mirabella, I'll be right back."

He lightly kissed her head before running out to the next warehouse, only to run into Conner.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" Conner questioned.

"Mirabella…She's in pain!" Lavender, Mal and Nightwing walked over, overhearing Garfield's panic. "I don't know what happened! She said it was her powers! We've gotta hurry!"

The five rushed over to the art studio, only to find Mirabella in a ball and glowing brightly.

"Mirabella!" Lavender shouted, trying to run over, but Conner held her back. "Let me go! That's my sister!"

"Lavender, calm down. Let Nightwing take a look." Conner said as Nightwing walked over to Mirabella.

After a long moment, Lavender was getting frustrated. All she's had is pain for months, and now she was possibly going to lose her little sister. First Jaime, then Tye, and now…Mirabella? No way, she wasn't going lose her too. She slipped from Conner and around, rather over, Nightwing and hugged her little sister close.

"It's okay, Mirabella…I'm here. I'm not going to lose you too. I'm not…"

The four guys watched as Lavender held Mirabella close, a sad scene for them to watch. Then Lavender screamed as the glowing blinded her, Conner pulled Lavender away. When the light died down, they all looked to see that Mirabella had been wrapped in something. Lavender was able to get back to Mirabella, lightly touching the hard form Mirabella had been wrapped in.

"It's some sort of…energy cocoon. Her powers…they must be growing so fast, so…powerful, that she's gone into a cocoon state to develop them. Weird." Nightwing explained.

"So…will she…live?" Lavender questioned.

"Yeah…I think so. Her powers are just…growing, kind of like a caterpillar into a…"

"AH!" Lavender screamed, curling into a ball pain just like Mirabella.

And just like Mirabella, Lavender glowed black and was wrapped into a cocoon like form.

"If Lavender and Mirabella have power developing like this then…Aster…"

"Aster's going to do the same." Turning around, Green Arrow and Black Canary walked in, carrying a cocoon together. "She had an argument with Impulse…I found her in Star City and she was going to stay the night but this…happened." Green Arrow explained.

"Let's get them next door. I'll go see Bart myself." Nightwing said.

"Ugh…They're…heavy…" Garfield said, trying to lift Mirabella's cocoon.

"Let me try." Conner said as he lifted Mirabella's with ease.

"Be careful with her, Conner! Don't hurt her!" Garfield said.

"Don't worry, Garfield. I wouldn't dream of hurting them." Conner said as he started out to go next door.


	31. Khaji Da

Chapter Thirty-One

"Bart? You need to eat something, son." Jay said as he set a plate of food in front of the young speedster.

"I can't." Bart replied, pushing the plate away from him. "I am so…_stupid_! How could I yell at her? Why couldn't I just tell her?"

"Tell her what, Bart?" Joan questioned.

"Ugh!" Bart groaned as he slammed his head on the table. "I—Aster and I had an argument about…these." Bart explained, pulling the collar of his shirt down over his shoulder, revealing some of the small scars that remained there. "There's more…A lot more."

"Where in the world did those come from?" Jay, surprised, asked.

"Let me take a crack at it. Blue Beetle?" Nightwing guessed, standing in the front door.

"Before I knew about my speed, yeah." Bart replied, surprised and almost relieved. "Have you seen Aster? Or even heard from her?"

"Yeah…She's at base." Nightwing replied sadly.

"What? Is she alright?"

"You better pack a bag, Bart. It'll be a-"

"I don't care about packing a bag! I'm worried about Aster! What happened to her?!"

Nightwing took a step back, remembering what Wally had told him after the Cave had been blown up.

"I believe…what Bart is trying to say is what's wrong?" Joan said, getting Bart to sit down once more.

"Of course." Nightwing said, regaining himself and walking inside, over to the table. He placed a purple music player, with white ear-buds plugged in, in front of Bart on the table. "Aster's music player…I searched through it, all recordings…of songs about the team, her past, and…you, Bart."

Bart grabbed it, hanging the ear-buds around his neck.

"Please…don't tell me she's…" Bart couldn't even bring himself to finish the question.

Nightwing placed a hand on Bart's that was still holding the music player, causing him to look up at his leader.

"She's not…Aster's just-" Nightwing took a deep breath. "It'd be better if you saw for yourself, honestly."

Bart looked at Joan and Jay, both nodding.

"I'll bring you some stuff tomorrow. Go and see her." Jay said.

Bart nodded before standing up again and following Nightwing out.

_**Bludhaven (Bart's POV)**_

Walking in, it felt like everything was cold. Maybe even still. Then Nightwing lead me to the cots, three giant cocoons laid on three of them.

"What's up with the cocoons?" I asked, pointing to one.

"The girls' powers were undeveloped when they escaped. I guess with all the training, their powers have decided to finally, **fully**…develop." Nightwing explained.

I felt my heart break…She just got out of a coma, now she's back in one? I have to be bad luck for her or something, but I had to ask.

"She—They'll…live, right?"

My heart felt like it sank possibly out of me and to the center of Earth, burning up to nothing but ash and wind.

"They'll be fine. It's like they're asleep…for possibly months."

"Months, right." I could feel my knees wobble, but what I didn't feel is me fall on them. I felt Nightwing's touch on my shoulder, that's when I noticed. "Last thing she told me was to…leave her alone. All because I yelled at her to leave my past alone."

"It'll be okay, Bart. Don't worry." Garfield assured me.

_**Bludhaven (June 13)**_

All I could think about was Aster. The fear in her eyes, the broken self inside…it looked as if—

"Impulse, pay attention. I need your help…**tonight**." Batgirl snapped me from my drifting thoughts.

"R—Right…sorry, Batgirl." My words kept falling over each other since Aster and I had our fight.

"Look, I know it's hard right now for you, with Aster and everything, but I need you to focus on this mission tonight. If we don't, we could lose every hope of bringing back Blue Beetle. We don't need to let the girls down, do we?"

"O—Of course not." I knew what was at risk; Batgirl didn't have to tell me. I came to the past for this very reason, to stop Blue Beetle from enslaving the Earth. "I've got this, Batgirl. Don't worry."

Everyone knew what Aster meant to me, my life. Now they all knew about our fight and how much I regretted it, the yelling and the fear I put in her. But, unfortunately, I couldn't concentrate on how I was going to apologize when she came back to us again. Now…Batgirl and I had to stop Blue Beetle. As mode as I felt, I couldn't stay that way for too long. At least I could get rid of my demons before saying sorry to Aster. Before we left, I placed a small box on the side table next to where Aster's cocoon laid.

_**Metropolis (20:28 Jaime Reyes POV)**_

The Toy Man was attacking Metropolis; I stepped in to stop him. I remember the League being busying. So, either way, being under Reach control or my own control, I would've stepped in to help. But I _**was**_ under Reach control, the scarab's control. I was nothing but a puppet for the Reach, to make them look good until time came for them to take the Earth for their own. Anyways, I smashed through the giant toy's hand, breaking it off and making the bank's safe fall down to the ground. If I hadn't flown down and blasted the safe at last second, a dozen people would be dead right now…because of me. I'm glad I don't have that guilt lingering around me forever.

After saving them all, everyone booed me. I felt…disappointed in myself. I felt like I let the entire team down, but no must be more disappointed than Lavender. The poor girl has been through so much already, how could this happening…to her? To us? How I wish I could tell her I am so sorry for everything, for betraying her and the team. I loved her, still do and always will. I just wish there was some way to tell her, someone, _anyone_.

As police took the Toy Man into custody, Cat Grant wanted an interview. And as the Reach had done for months, they gave her one, but not in a way I would answer. At least in a way I would answer if I wasn't so shy to talk on camera.

"_Why am I still waving? I look like an idiot! Scarab, get us out of here_!" I begged the scarab.

"_The Reach's desire the crowd's adulation. And we are of the Reach._" The scarab returned.

I thought we were playing double agent, but I guess I got double _crossed _instead.

"I am so honored by your kind attentions! And so honored to be your hero!" The Ambassador said through me, like a puppet master.

"_That's not the way I talk! And stop waving! I look like the Queen of England…" _Then the scarab put my hands on my hips. "_Great! Now I'm Peter Pan!"_

I remembered Lavender again and the times we joked and called each other Queen of England and Peter Pan after our movie night at my house. Ugh! I am so stupid! Even if I did ever become good again, Lavender would probably never want to _see _me as long as I live. Oh…stupid Reach! Stupid scarab! Stupid…me. This is all my fault. I should've waited for Lavender, talked to her about Green Beetle going inside my scarab and **reprogramming **it. I only thought of myself, and was rash enough to go for it, no matter the risk.

_**El Paso**_

"_Scarab, you don't have to do this!_" I shouted.

"But, he does. And so do you. In fact, it'd be a good lesson for you to helplessly murder your former friends. The first kills are always the hardest, my boy. Might as well get them over with."

"_Scarab, please! We fought side-by-side with these guys! Do something_!"

Just as scarab was about to slash down on Impulse, green vines tightened around my arms, pulling me to the ground. Looking over my shoulder, Black Thorn was standing there…I think. She looked different. Her long hair was now shortened around her chin line with a braid wrapped around her hair line where her bangs would be, and a vine was wrapped inside the braid. Her usually darkened, and intimating eyes were now lightened but filled with anger. And her once pink lips were now blackened. She was beautiful, I could feel _my _heart skip a beat when I saw her. Before the scarab could do anything, I tried for control, anything to stop him.

I was able to take control of my speaking for only a moment, "L—Lavender…help…me."

"J—Jaime?"

"No! Don't listen to him, Thorn! It's a trap!" Zatanna shouted.

"L-Look at me, Lavender. I—I-I can only talk for a m-moment, but…you need to s—stop me, no matter w—what."

"It is him, Zatanna, but…I won't let him go. Hurry and trap him, Rocket!"

"Right!" Rocket acknowledged before forming a bubble around me.

Scarab was going to use sonics to destroy the bubble, but Zatanna enhanced it with her magics.

"Blue's not going anywhere." Zatanna said before freeing Batgirl and Impulse from their restraints.

"Impulse!" A girl shouted before running over, and helping Impulse up.

"Uh…who are you?" He asked.

"I guess that shouldn't surprise me." She smirked. "It's me, speed bunny."

"As—Aster?"

"Hey…Are you okay?"

"Um…Yeah—Yeah, I'm okay."

For some reason, Impulse looked afraid of Aster. Well, her eyes were very intimating now with one purple and one yellow. Her longer, _white _hair with the three black stripes crawling up her hair, and _wings_? Her small wings that were dark but shimmery like the night.

"I'm glad you're okay." She smiled softly as she took out a gold necklace around her neck. "I found this when I woke up. Thank you."

"Y—You're…welcome. I—I—I had to s—save up a lot."

"Could you two have your love session some other time? We do have my hermano to bring back here."

Mirabella?! She looked like half wolf now! Wolf ears on her head, a wolf tail behind her, and sharp teeth and nails like claws.

"Okay, okay, Lupita. Let's get going. Venus, did you—Venus!"

Venus…I liked it. It was more of Lavender than Black Thorn ever could be. She was standing next to the bubble, starring at me. Then the scarab formed a hammer, slamming it against the side and scaring her backward to the ground.

"Venus…are you alright?" Batgirl question, running over.

"Yeah…I'll be okay. Let's go. Here, Zatanna…" She handed Zatanna a blue rose. "Nightwing told me you needed this."

"Yes, thank you, Venus. Lupita, and…" Zatanna trailed off, waiting for Aster.

"Iridiven's my new name." She replied.

"Iridiven?" Impulse questioned quietly, but I heard him. It's like he knew that name, the look.

_**Regular POV**_

On the way to their destination, Venus was listening to a music player and humming.

"Venus, what are you listening to?"

"Oh…um…some songs Jaime and I listened to. Wanna listen, Lupita?"

"Nah…" Then she sighed heavily. "Could you sing to me…that song?"

"Um…I could try. But you know I'm not the singer, Iridiven is."

"Yeah, I know."

"Okay." Then Venus pulled Lupita (Mirabella) close. "_I remember tears streaming down your face when I said, _I'll never let you go._When all those shadows almost killed your light. I remember you said, _don't leave me here alone. _But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight._"

Then Iridiven (Aster) joined in, holding Lupita's shoulders.

"_Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You'll be alright. No one can hurt you now. Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound._"

The two just hummed the rest of the song in unison.

"Are you going to able to do this, Lupita?" Zatanna questioned.

"Yes…I am positive. I want my hermano back from these scum, the Reach." She replied, her voice hardened from its usual soft and caring tone.

After a while of silence, Lupita started singing quietly, nobody really minded the songs. They were nice and quiet.

"Lupita?"

"Hmm? Yeah, Impulse?"

"What song are you singing?"

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just one that my mom, well Jaime's mom, used to sing to me after I moved in with them. It's called _A La Nanita Nana._" Then she started humming before singing. "_A la nanita nana nanita ella, nanita ella. Mi nina tiene sueno bendito sea, bendito sea."_

"_A la nanita nana nanita ella, nanita ella. Mi nina tiene sueno bendito sea, bendito sea…" _Venus continued. "I looked up the song a while back."

"It's a beautiful song." Iridiven said.

"Thanks." Lupita said before looking back at Blue Beetle. She sighed heavily. "I think…when we the scarab needs a name."

"Them? Mir—Lupita, the scarab's doing this!"

"No! The Reach are!"

She turned around again, resting her arms on the part behind her, laying her head on her arms.

"_Why does the Lupita insist giving me a name?_"

"_It's a thing she has; she came up with the names for herself and Aster when they first started on the team. I think a name for you would be nice._"

Then a snapping sound emerged, Lupita snapping her fingers.

"I got it! Hey, Impulse…How's this for a name, Khaji Da?"

"Khaji Da?" Impulse questioned.

"New Earth…Khaji Da. It's a name my daddy used instead of scarab. Why not?"

Impulse smiled softly toward Mirabella's wide smiling face.

"I think it's perfect, Lupita." He replied, messing with her hair.

_**Bialaya June 14**_

"You were fools to bring us here! Queen Bee is our ally and her minions will destroy you!"

"If only these bubbles were sound proof."

"Isn't he bowl of happiness?" Venus joked before kicking Shimmer over the head. "That _**cannot **_be Jaime talking." Then she caught Shimmer's attempt to punch her and threw Shimmer into a wall. "Lupita, this better work."

"It will!"

"_What better work?_" Jaime thought.


	32. Back Again Comes the Past and Hurt

Chapter Thirty Two

Now with Robin, Wonder girl, Bumble Bee, and Beast Boy joined in the mix, you would think taking down Green Beetle would be easier. But you would be wrong. Sonically, he blasted Wonder girl backward into Venus, knocking her out. Finally coming out of the trance, Lupita, who has been practicing as Kherpi backward spells, and Zatanna spoke the incantation needed but not before Blue Beetle took a shot. Impulse, grabbing the golden rope around Green Beetle, threw him in front of Blue, and sending them both back on the ground before a bright light engulfed them both, and Lupita and Zatanna. With the light dying, both spell casters were weakened.

"Are you okay? Did you work? Who controls the Beetles?" Impulse questioned.

"Let's find out." Zatanna replied before casting a spell that allowed the Beetles' armors to disappear. "It worked. B'aarzz and Jaime are back in control of their own bodies."

"It's true. I—I can feel it. I'm free of the Reach, for real this time." Jaime replied.

"Are you sure? Because we've been through this before." Batgirl said.

"Reading no external signals since they worked their mojo. Neither Beetle is in contact with the Reach." Robin replied.

"Jaime!" Lupita shouted, running over and hugging him. "I knew it'd work, I knew we could bring you back." She let go. "Kherpi told me so."

"Uh…Kherpi?" Jaime questioned.

"A form she can turn into. Kherpi was an Egyptian god who watched over scarabs thousands of years ago." Robin replied.

"Yeah, Impulse isn't the only one who has to watch out for you." Lupita smiled.

"I'm sure you will. Thank you, bot—all of you." Jaime said.

A light groaning sound echoed through the ruins, bringing everyone's attention to Venus just waking up.

"Lavender!" Jaime shouted, running over to the injured girl. "Lavender? It's me…I'm back." Jaime said gently, touching Venus's face.

"Jaime? Is it really you?"

"Yeah…It's me…for real this time."

Venus just pulled him into a hug tightly, almost as if he was going to be lost again.

"I thought I lost you."

"You could never lose me, Lav."

"Look at you two, back together again! This is so crash." Impulse said.

"_Congratulations, Jaime Reyes and Venus."_

"Oh, right. Like you're happy about this." Jaime said as they released.

"I am! I swear!" Impulse said.

"_If this mistrust is your only take away from our time together you haven't learned a thing. This scarab far prefers our partnership to being slaves of the Reach._"

"You know, I believe you."

"We both do…" Venus said.

"Course you do. Up high!" Impulse said, getting a high five from both Venus and Jaime.

Venus giggled.

"That's great, but Queen Bee's goons are waking up!"

"Which means it's time to go."

Jaime helped Venus up on her feet, wobbly a little.

"Are you okay?" Jaime questioned, his suit returning.

"I'll be okay. Just a little dizzy from being thrown around. I just woke up, myself, from a power hibernation."Blue picked her up. "Blue, what are you doing?"

"Let me carry you at least back to Sphere, huh?"

"_It is the least we can do for what we have done._"

"You—Both of you are sweet. Thanks, but I should probably…"

"It wasn't a suggestion." Blue said already getting to Sphere.

Venus giggled as she sat down next to her sisters.

"Thank you…Peter Pan."

"Ugh…Can we call each other something else, Venus? After what we've been through, I don't think it works anymore."

"I'll figure something out." Venus sighed.

Flying home, something was really bothering Blue Beetle.

"So spill, how'd you know how to cure us?" He finally asked. "That temple wasn't even in the Reach's database."

"Bumble Bee and I first came across it months ago on another mission. I couldn't help but noticing the Blue Beetle imagery and recorded a holographic file of the symbols and hieroglyphics. Dr. Fate was able to translate the glyphs, which revealed a mystic ceremony the ancients had used to cleanse the scarab of Reach control."

"That's why my scarab was off mode when I found it."

"_I had been cleansed after landing on Earth four thousand years ago._"

"Right…" Venus whispered, but loud enough for the others to hear her. "Sorry…Still hearing the scarab."

"You can still hear him?" Blue questioned.

"Yeah, I wonder why."

"We'll worry about that later. Because the ritual was of human origin, Fate, a lord of Order, could not perform it. So he prepped me and Mirabella instead." Zatanna said.

"That's another question. Since when does Mirabella know how to do backward spells?"

"When Wally and Artemis came to visit for the first time at the Cave, they told me stories about how the team first started and told me about Zatanna. I asked her to teach me."

"While they were prepping, Batgirl and I got with the hacking. Starting with the computer files on the previous Blue Beetle, the late Ted Kord. Ted's files revealed that an archeologist named Dan Garrett first discovered both the temple and the scarab in 1939. It fused with his spine just like it did with yours. But Dan assumed that it was some kind of mystic artifact and he used it to become the first Blue Beetle of modern times. When Dan passed away, he left the scarab to his protégé, Ted Kord."

Continuing with the story of Ted Kord, Lupita started feeling upset, Venus holding her close.

"I guess I wasn't what the Light or the Reach had in mind."

"You are everything I had in mind, from daddy's stories." Lupita replied.

Returning to Base, everyone started for home. Iridiven was going to talk to Impulse, but he had disappeared before she got the chance. She wanted to know why he hadn't talked to her, said one word to her, since she met up with them in El Paso in order to stop Blue Beetle, but she guessed she had to wait for an answer.

Lupita hugged her brother, Blue Beetle, one last time before he left for home. After he had gone, she started back inside, someone grabbing her and pulling her into the art studio next door. Finally stopping, she saw it was Garfield.

"Garfield? What's wrong?"  
"I—I—I…" He was stuttering horribly, trying to find words.

Mirabella was confused, Garfield never stuttered when they talked. Then she looked at herself, remembering her transformation, now half wolf and blended together with her friend Stardust.

"It's how I look now, right? I am…too…animal…"

"Mirabella, that's not—Ah! Why is it so hard to talk to you?!"

Mirabella removed her mask, it slipping to the ground, and kissed Garfield hard. He was surprised but relaxed into the kiss heavily. After a long moment, they pulled away, only their noses brushing slightly against each other's, and breathing heavily as they looked each other in the eyes.

"Garfield…?"

"Hmm…Yeah, Mirabee?"

"Your lip—Your lip is bleeding."

"Huh?" He lightly touched his lip, a little blood rubbed on his lips. "It's just a little. I'll be okay."  
"It must've been from my teeth. I'm sorry, Gar…" Mirabella said, looking away.

Garfield pulled her back up.

"Oh, Mirabella…It's okay. I'm alright. We'll just have to be careful in the future." Garfield said, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her close.

"I hurt you. And I am…different. How could you still like me?"

"Mirabella, I don't like you."

"You…don't?"

"No…I love you. I don't care if you're part wolf now. I mean, I've got a monkey tail. Who am I to judge?"

Mirabella giggled a little.

"I guess so. But still, I hurt you."

"You didn't hurt me. The one thing you could do to hurt me is if you disappeared."

"In that case…" Then Mirabella turned into a blue flame form, disappearing.

"What the heck? Mirabella, not funny."

Then, in regular form, she snuck up behind him, hugging him.

"I love you too, Garfield."

"Hey, follow me." He said pulling her gently.

The two had snuck into Bludhaven, sitting on a tall building and watching the sun set on the town.

"Oh, Garfield, this is beautiful."

"Really? I thought you might've thought it was kind of—I dunno—chessy?"

"Chessy? Garfield, I love anything that has to do with you." Mirabella replied, snuggling closer to her boyfriend.

"Noted…" He chuckled.

It was calm, and quiet, peaceful even. Then a small marble was rolled along the rooftop. Mirabella's ear twitched, hearing the small sound. She sat back up, listening.

"Mirabella, everything okay?"

Mirabella turned around, seeing the small object.

"Look out!" She shouted, pushing Garfield to the floor of the roof top just before smoke was released from the marble. Coughing, Mirabella tried to hold his hand, "Garfield…are you…alright?"

"I think…so…" Garfield coughed back. Reaching out his hand, "Mirabella…give me your…hand."

"I'm…trying…ugh…Gar…field." Then Mirabella found that she couldn't move very much. Struggling, she pressed her com-link. "Lupita to…Nightwing…help…" Then she passed out.

Garfield struggled to stay awake, looking up at the attacker.

"Death…stroke…" He said just before passing out as well.

Back at Base, Nightwing had just heard Mirabella's distress call. He was trying to locate her, searching for her com-link on a small PDA he had.

"Nightwing…everything okay?" Lavender questioned, walking over.

"Lupita and Beast Boy were just attacked. I'm trying to locate their com-links." Nightwing replied.

"Is she okay?" Aster questioned, overhearing.

"I don't know."

"Any ideas as to who attacked them?" La'Gaan questioned.

"No, but we're going to find out."

**June 14, 21:30**

**Old Apartment Complex in Gotham**

"Ugh…my head…Huh? Where—Where am I?" Mirabella groaned awake.

"Mirabella…"

Garfield was on the ground, beaten up.

"Garfield!" Then Deathstroke walked over to her, gently touching her face. "Leave me alone!"

"You know…I had a daughter like you once. She was just about your age…when she killed."

"Don't…touch her…" Garfield snapped.

"Garfield…" Mirabella said quietly, tears in her eyes.

"So…you have **feelings **for this…disgusting piece of trash?"

Mirabella gasped, hurt by Deathstroke's feelings.

"Leave her alone!" Garfield shouted, trying to stand.

"She's no hero! Nothing but a little…inkling of dust. Daddy never paid attention to you, did he? And it was all because he knew you were nothing…"

"That's not true! My dad loved me!"

"Did he really?"  
"I said…leave…her…_alone_!" Then Garfield pounced at Deathstroke, knocking him to the ground.

It didn't last long as Deathstroke kicked him off. Before Garfield could try to get up again, Deathstroke stepped on his chest.

"Leave him alone! Please…just leave him alone!" Then she saw Garfield go limp. "Garfield!"

Then the wall behind Deathstroke exploded, sending him flying. Running in came Nightwing, Superboy, M'Gann, La'Gaan, Guardian, Bumble Bee, Venus and Iridiven.

"Deathstroke, I should have known." Nightwing said, cuffing him.

"Mirabella!" Venus said as she and Iridiven ran over. M'Gann flew over to her brother.

Iridiven freed her. And, thinking Mirabella would run into her arms, Venus held out her arms. But Mirabella ran right past her sisters and tried to get to her boyfriend, but Guardian caught her.

"Let me go! Garfield! Ugh…Ah! Guardian, let me go!" She stopped when she heard him groan.

"M'Gann…I knew you'd come."

"How do you feel?"

"I think I'll be okay." Then he saw Mirabella trying to get from Mal. "Mirabella…"

Guardian finally released her, Mirabella rushing over and hugging Garfield.

"I was so worried…"

"It's okay, Mirabee. Everything Deathstroke said wasn't true, I know it."

"Stay here. I'll be right back." M'Gann told them before walking away, to the others.

Venus walking over, Deathstroke spoke, "Ah…Valentina…"

"Wha—How do you know…?"

"I'm the one who gave you the name, child."

"No. No, it can't be…" Venus walked over, removing Deathstroke's mask. She gasped and stepped back, tripping and falling backward. "Father…"

"Surprised?"

"You're supposed to be **dead**!" She shouted.

"And I left you in that cave to starve, but when I heard about a hero attacking Lex Corp with your description, I had to find out, Valentina."

"Deathstroke is your dad?" La'Gaan questioned.

"Skillful, isn't she? She inherited her father's skills."

"She is nothing like you! And her name's Lavender!" Iridiven shouted.

"Oh, but she is. You'll all see soon enough."

"That's enough out of you." Nightwing said as he and Guardian walked Deathstroke out.

Superboy held Venus close, Iridiven there with them, and tried to help.

"He's lying, Venus. You are nothing like him. You never were, and never could be." He whispered to her.

**C19G13M: Hey sorry about the slow updates, guys. I'm no longer a high school student and I do not have a computer at home at the moment, let alone internet access. So the chapters will be updated slower. Please, be patient with me. I only get two hours at the library…stupid time limits. We are working as fast as we can. Now I really do wish I had speedster powers. LOL…big fan of DC Nation. I promise, Emily and I are working as fast as we can to write and update this story, which is…coming to an end soon. But no worries! Because this is only the first one in the series we're writing. So keep reading! **

**NEITHER OF US OWN DC NATION, OR THE SONGS USED IN THIS STORY/SERIES! ONLY LUPITA, VENUS, AND IRIDIVEN! Thank you!**


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